Firefly Tides
by CherryStained
Summary: Harry, forever The-Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn’t-Die meets familiar faces after thinking them dead for over Five-Hundred Years. Xover w/ Gundam Wing. Slash(hp/ss and others),hints of non-con.main chara's: gw pilots, hp, ss, sf, hg, dm(Ch6)
1. A Grain to My Sandbox

Title: Firefly Tides  
  
Author name: CherryStain  
  
Author email: CherryStain@hotmail.com  
  
Category: Drama/Angst  
  
Rating: R (NC-17 in certain chapters-maybe (I haven't decided yet)-will be labeled)  
  
Spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, FB, QTTA, Gundam Wing.  
  
Summary: Harry, forever The-Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Die meets familiar faces after thinking them dead for over Five-Hundred Years. Crossover with Gundam Wing. Will have slash, though won't be centered around it.  
  
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Gundam Wing is the property of. someone, and that's not me, so. the uses of these characters are in no way profitable to me.  
  
A.N. this story idea came to me completely by surprise. I had been reading a story, and like most stories in the Potter universe, they'd called Harry the Boy who Lived. And Bam! Story idea. Um, I really took my time in this chapter, and I really enjoyed writing it. The real story will begin next chapter, this was sort of an- I dunno- interlude-prologue- whatever word you want- to the rest of the story. Don't worry, all will be explained (muahhahahaha!) *ahem* well, on with it! Go- read and review!  
  
Oh yeah, and about the title. More than just random words thrown together! In Japan, I think, firefly's are supposed to represent immortality and death. The myth says something about a firefly coming back to life, sort of like a phoenix out of the ashes. I was going to call this story something like out of the ashes or A Phoenix Burning or something like that, but I kinda like the firefly idea better- dunno why, I guess I didn't want my story mixed up with the half a million order of Phoenix stories out there. Oh yeah, and the tides, you know, tides in, tides out, sort of like a cycle. Reminded me of something mentioned in this chapter, though I think it might not make complete sense. Oh well, I enjoyed writing it, so *sticks out tongue*  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Prologue- A grain to my Sandbox ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
  
I am not an angel. I am not a god. I am certainly not anything to be worshiped or adored or feared (without a weapon at least) though my nickname and reputation may tell people otherwise.  
  
I am nothing but a human being. Immortal, yes, but human none-the-less. Because I can cry and laugh and hurt and bleed and make mistakes I know that I am human. This is one truth I am sure of now, though I doubted it at first. I spent many years after learning of my. affliction, studying immortality. Scrap that- the theory of immortality. Stupid to think that I would find any information when humankind has been searching for centuries for information to something most people believed impossible.  
  
I found it ironic that I should be immortal with no effort when others spend their lives (a grain of sand to my sand box) trying to be what I myself would willingly give up. I truly understand what a wise man once told me (someone who is gone and long forgotten by everybody save me) about death-"to the ordered-mind, death is but the next great adventure." Though I do not boast of being levelheaded in any way, I do believe I have far exceeded the point were life is a novelty.  
  
Don't get me wrong, life is something I truly do cherish- though not my own. Life is only truly appreciated when it can be taken at any moment. It is why I fight when I could easily layback and let fate- or whatever guides this crazy world- deal with the world's problems. With such a short life span, shouldn't people have a chance to enjoy it? So I fight, as corny as it sounds, to save the world. To make it a better place. Blah blah, insert corny remark here _____.  
  
I guess you could say I am a pawn (ok, well, more like just about half the pieces on the board) in the scheme of things. I have ended people's lives, and saved people's lives, though given the choice, I would not want to, for what gives me the right to take and give lives? But I will never be given the choice. Oh, don't get me wrong, I could choose not to help in any of the bloody wars, but what would be the justice in that?  
  
Justice. Just a seven letter word, and no matter how much I make fun of a certain someone for there obsessive use of the word, I myself fight for it. Even if I am risking my-well, time and sanity because I'm not really risking my life- for bad people-evil people who hurt and pillage and desecrate- I know that there are good people out there also. Who deserve to walk the streets without the fear of being mugged/killed/raped hanging over their heads.  
  
It has taken me years and years, but I have accepted-for the most part- my lot in life. Wow, reality check here, I sound like some sort of holier than thou bastard-which I most definitely am not. Like I've said, I am not an angel, or a god, or even all that great of a person (some say I'm rather obnoxious and I wouldn't disagree with them)- but I do what I must.  
  
It all started, as most things do, when I was born. People say that God is all knowing. He has reasons for his actions, and that we mere mortals shall never know exactly why things happened in our life until everything is gone and done with, and your body is six feet under. Because I will never die, I may never find out why exactly I was born to live forever. It defies, to most peoples minds including mine, the cycle of things. Things begin. Things end. That is how everything is. Or should be. Everything is balanced, but myself. Hundreds of years of research to find even an inkling of why I am never to leave this life did nothing but give me one monster of a headache.  
  
In my sixth year of school, I had learned my. well-- lets just call it my destiny, though I detest the word.  
  
The details of what happened are not needed at this moment. Needless to say, it was painful, and I was not in too shaken a state for certain. reasons to really grasp the idea of what it truly meant to keep on going. and going. and going. Not until I outlived friends (or those who lived said incident in sixth year). And then children of friends. And grandchildren of friends. I don't know how many other ways I can say it; I don't know how to describe to you what it is like to be forever young. Like being frozen in time, watching others grow old all around you.  
  
After the first three hundred years, I distanced myself from humanity. Seeking comfort in books, in studying, I'd become a regular bookworm. Like a certain someone I once knew.  
  
In the process of finding information on immortality, I learned everything I could. I'd gone through magic books first. Learned everything there was to learn.  
  
And then never picked my wand up again. I know, I know, waste of time (though that wouldn't really matter in my case, would it?), but I didn't see any reason in using magic. I mean, why use a wand when you could do just fine with the body you had? I hid my wand away because I felt no need to bring it around. I mean, I know I could have used it to heal people, make things, change minds, but why prolong a person's life? Why tamper with fate? Who better to understand that a person's life-span should not be tampered with better than I?  
  
After reading so many philosophy books (for research on immortality eventual lead me to philosophy), I just didn't feel the need to use a wand. I would live forever, why take shortcuts with a wand? I mean, I believe magic truly is a gift from whomever up there in that wide expanse of heaven, but why abuse it when I certainly don't need it? I decided long ago to remain a muggle.  
  
I went on to muggle technology next. Gleaned all the information that I could. Magic was great, yes, but computers, electricity, and later space shuttles and other far more advanced machinery really sent my mind awhirl. Magic came so *naturally. * I wanted, needed a challenge.  
  
People in this present age think I was a natural at everything I did. The street rat has talent, they'd say. Pick up a gun; toss a dime in the air, shoot it clean through the center with my eyes closed - and with the appearance of a sixteen-year-old no less! Hotwire cars, fly space shuttles with ease, use the largest, most taxing of machinery in the world at the age of sixteen (by appearances at least) with no real training (which is probably one of the only things people perceived about me that was true. I really *hadn't* had any training but by that time, I was so familiar with machinery it wasn't too hard to figure out eventually). No one would have guessed how clumsy I had originally been, how many times I had accidentally blown machinery sky high with a faulty wire. But now, I no longer need to even see under the hood to use most technological apparatus. From a glance and the sound of an engine I know exactly what to find should I look at the engine. It's like learning a foreign language, once you learn the mechanics of it (pardon the pun); the rest of the language is easy.  
  
Like I said before, I am a different person from who I had once been, though that is to be expected. People evolve over time, and God only knows I have enough of that. I was once shy, timid, unsure of myself, and somewhere deep inside, I still am, but like most people, I have changed- will continue to change. I have gained a certain amount of self-confidence, and I am definitely cockier than I had once been.  
  
Like earlier, I will spare you the details of my past, of why I came out of my self-imposed exile. Like a light bulb, epiphany hit me (for which someday you may learn the true irony of that comment) and I realized that with all of the time I would have, I might as well make good use of it. It is why I no longer sit on the sidelines; I embrace the life of the people around me, though it pains me to do so, knowing it will not last long and I must move on to the next generation.  
  
As a sort of bittersweet jibe, an inside joke only I am privy too, I have nicknamed myself after death. (Another part of my evolving personality: I have developed somewhat of a darker sense of humor than I had once had, not unlike another person I once knew.) Too live and watch others die around me while I myself remain frozen, watching death take its toll on others while I stay forever young; I cannot help but find a bit of a connection with the dark spectre of death and myself.  
  
To those who draw on their last breath on the battlefield, I am recognized, with my maniacal laugh and dark hooded and oh so violet eyes, as Shinegami. I am Duo Maxwell, feared Gundam Pilot 02.  
  
From a time long forgotten, I was once known as Harry Potter, the Boy-Who- Lived.  
  
Oh how right they were to give me such a name.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A.N. Wonder if you guessed that ( Anyways, review! Harry Potter Canon characters will be seen shortly so don't fret, the actual story will begin in the next chapter.  
  
Oh yeah, um, I was wondering if someone could beta read for me, and also help me with Gundam Wing facts. I am horrible at keeping the story strait, and I'd like to at least try (though I might just scrap the Gundam Wing time line and make my own.)  
  
So yeah, um, beta reader must know info on Gundam Wing, have good Grammar skills, and wont mind slash and other dark things. 


	2. Hook, Line, and Sinker!

Title: Firefly Tides  
  
Author name: CherryStain  
  
Author email: CherryStain@hotmail.com  
  
Category: Drama/Angst  
  
Rating for this chapter: R because of some Duo/Harry Torture. A little non- con, but not too strong.  
  
Spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, FB, QTTA, Gundam Wing.  
  
Summary: Harry, forever The-Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Die meets familiar faces after thinking them dead for over Five-Hundred Years. Crossover with Gundam Wing, will have slash, though won't be centered on it. This chapter is just sort of an intro to some of the pilots and shows a view into their screwed life (  
  
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Gundam Wing is the property of. someone, and that's not me, so. the uses of these characters are in no way profitable to me.  
  
Authors Notes:  
  
My official unofficial beta eader makes an appearance! Um. I just realized that I have no idea if you're a guy or girl, so I'll just call you Dark One. He/She knows a lot more about GW so he/she's been making all the corrections ( give him/her a round of applause!  
  
Yay! The actual story begins! This chapter is, more than anything, a look inside the relationships between the pilots. Their relationship is contradictory. They are friends, in their own sense, but everything is for the mission. If need be, they would kill each other. Well, I don't think Duo or Quatre would, because both seem to value life too much, and especially value their friends too much.  
  
Even the actual Duo from the anime seems noble at heart, considering he faced off Heero to save Relena in one episode- though he didn't really know Heero or Relena at the time.  
  
Um, another thing you should know is that all of the pilots have had hard lives, and they don't really question each other's pasts. It's sort of an unspoken agreement. They know enough, but not details.  
  
Well, here's just general information you should know:  
  
Heero Yuy's Gundam is called Wing. His number is 01. Heero isn't his real name, just an alias he picked up. He was raised to be an assassin, and then became a Gundam pilot.  
  
Duo Maxwell's Gundam is called Deathscythe. His number is 02. He loves to laugh, though he does have a rather dark sense of humor.  
  
Trowa Barton. It's not his real name, he was called Nanashi, which means no name for most of his life. He took the real Trowa's place after he died. His Gundam is Heavyarms, his number is 03. As stated in the back of the Episode Zero manga, it's speculated that his real name is Triton Bloom, Catherine Bloom's long lost little brother.  
  
Quatre Winner. He's from a rich pacifist family, so they don't really approve of his lifestyle choice. His Gundam is Sandrock, his number 04.  
  
Wufei Chang. He usually calls his Gundam Nataku, though its real name is Shenlong, which I think means dragon in Chinese, but I could be wrong. He calls it Nataku after his late wife who used to call herself that. His number is 05.  
  
For more information on the pilots, go here: http://members.tripod.com/duonomiko2/gweb/gwasd.html  
  
Oh yeah, if you want to see a picture of the piloting jacket I talk about, or you just want to see a picture of all of the pilots go here: http://photos.yahoo.com/fa3rydust85  
  
Click on the Firefly Tides folder.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter One- Hook, Line, and Sinker!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Heero-kun, hand me the monkey wrench would you?"  
  
Pause. Grunt.  
  
"I know, I know, I should have brought it up. Please?"  
  
"Fine."  
  
The hangar both boys were currently inside was one of the larger ones, connected to an equally massive Winner estate located in none other than what was formerly known as Wales. Heero was currently at the foot of his Gundam, sitting against it, typing on his laptop. Not uncommon, considering the thing was an extension of his body. He was sitting next to a rather large, dented, and aging toolbox. The Gundam next to Heero's was in a seated position, much to the annoyance of the other pilots who also needed the space that Deathscythe was hogging. On the shoulder of said massive machine was Duo. A panel in the side of the shoulder was open and the front half of Duo was currently burrowed inside.  
  
Heero, with a few final key clicks, sat his laptop to the side and stood up, brushing himself off. He took the monkey wrench out of the old toolbox and walked to the side of Deathscythe.  
  
"Duo." Duo pulled his head out of the shoulder, face smudged with oil. He looked over the side just as Heero pulled his arm back and threw the monkey wrench strait at him. Considering who was throwing it and who was catching it, it came as no surprise that even with a few hundred feet between them, Heero's aim was perfect and Duo caught it easily, giving a grin in thanks.  
  
"Finish up soon, I just got an e-mail from Winner. They're running late, so he arranged for one of the Maganacs to bring us the jeep. You've got the floor plans memorized right?"  
  
"I've got it Yuy, don't get your boxers in a twist." Heero narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, glare all you want. Just don't worry! I'll have it memorized by tomorrow morning. I've got a great memory, it'll all be up here." Duo pointed to his head then buried it back into the shoulder of Deathscythe, monkey wrench in hand.  
  
Heero, as usual, didn't voice his rather rude thoughts about Duo out loud. With a glance and a barely perceptible exasperated look, he picked up his laptop and headed for the door leading to the rest of the Mansion.  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
  
"So we're going to go on Interstate 51 up to the border, get on the 91, then the 105, then back onto the 91?"  
  
"Yes Maxwell, even with your thick head, the directions cannot be that confusing."  
  
"Well I'm sorry *Chang,* but I think it's a bit strange getting on and off the same highway. Why not just stay on the 91?"  
  
"Concentration of soldiers in one area on that particular stretch of highway. Did you not read the report?"  
  
"Yes, I read it, once- the Professors sent it last night- I've been working on Deathscythe all day. I only got to read the complete report around five in the morning before I got to work. At least I've got most of what is readable memorized from the floor base plan."  
  
"Well, you should have worked on Deathscythe *yesterday* Maxwell!"  
  
"At least I didn't spend all of today sharpening an overgrown kitchen knife!" [1]  
  
"It is *not* a-"  
  
*Click*  
  
Both Wufei and Duo turned towards the- until then- completely motionless third occupant of the room. Sometime during the conversation, he'd taken his gun out of wherever the hell it came from and had it pointed at the both of them [2]. He'd just clicked the safety off.  
  
"You've made your point Heero. We'll stop fighting."  
  
The three of them had finished dinner an hour ago, and had all been discussing the finer details of the mission for a while now.  
  
"Good. Now continue."  
  
Sigh. "Okay, so we head out around three in the morning. We bring few weapons, just what we can carry and some sleeping bags incase we take longer than is necessary. I drive there, while you two do whatever it is you want in the back," a slow grin spread across Duo's face.  
  
"Sick mind, Baka, sick mind."  
  
"It's one of my finer points, I should say."  
  
"Do you *want* that braid gone by morning?" Duo instinctively reached back for his braid. [3]  
  
"Low blow, even for you Wufei." Heero sent a pointed look at both of them. It could be called a death-glare, if someone were to give it a name, but said someone does not wish to use such cliché words, so we will leave it at a pointed look.  
  
"Right. Down to business." Wufei was glad that Duo was finally shutting up and getting serious. It was eleven P.M. and they had to get up at three in the morning the next day to head out towards their intended target, a rather small base in the middle of Scotland.  
  
"Do we know where we are going to hide the jeep? We've got to get back somehow."  
  
"There's a forest close by where the base should be."  
  
Wufei pursed his lips and adjusted his reading glasses. He shuffled through a few of the papers, not seeing any information on any forest near the base. Then again, the base was rather small, not largely populated, and was not well known in the slightest. Actually, except for the people within and higher-ranking officers of Oz, the Pilots were probably the only others who knew of it. The information didn't even contain a picture of the base, just the general location and the floor plans. Heero, who had, of course, already memorized the folder, raised an eyebrow, the only indication that he was asking Duo how he knew of the forest.  
  
"Lets just say- I've been in the area before." A sort of bittersweet smile spread across his face, not an uncommon sight to those who knew him. Heero and Wufei waited for Duo to finish. After a moment of silence, they continued.  
  
"Well, now that you're done with the cryptic statements, how about we figure out exactly where the main computer is?"  
  
"Yes Chang-san." By the tone of Duo's voice, Wufei knew he was being mocked, but let it pass, opting to try and get to bed as soon as possible. He and the rest of the pilots might not have needed more than a few hours of sleep, but at the rate they were going, it would be time to leave before they had it all sorted out.  
  
Duo looked down at their instructions, his brow furrowing in thought.  
  
"Hey, why aren't we blowing the base up?"  
  
"Because destroying it would not do much, except for cause a rather large explosion. The base is not all that important, except for some of the information on the computer about the new prototype mobile suits. I know how much you love bright lights, but it is not really necessary for this particular base."  
  
"Okay, sounds good, just wish this wasn't so covert. It's been a while since our last real fight and I miss the action."  
  
"You nearly got your head shot off a week ago at that base on L3." Duo winced.  
  
"Okay, so maybe our last brush with death wasn't that long ago. It's just that I can't wait to get Deathscythe out again, I want to see how the adjustments I made to her damaged arm hold out in battle."  
  
"I think the next mission is going to be in space, so we'll find out." Wufei nodded to himself that continued. "Now anything else?"  
  
"Well, the floor plan is rather shitty, but from what I can gather, the disk should be in the center of the third floor, see?" Duo leaned across the table to bring the map in front of Wufei, who was sitting on the other side, and pointed.  
  
Wufei squinted; it really was a bad floor plan. In all actuality, it was also a rather badly planned one. No maps, a really shoddy plan on what they were to actually do on the mission, not even general information on the population of the base. The whole plan had many holes in it, but they couldn't really change it because they'd only gotten the information the night before. The professors were really losing their touch. Concentrating once again on the floor plan, Wufei could barely make out the letters "ai," "ompu," and "oom" written on a room in the center of the third floor.  
  
"Okay, so Yuy, the professors want you to go through the vents first, head down to the basement; the controls for the central heating, air conditioning, lighting and alarms are down there. Start the fire alarm. I don't know the rotations of the guards, so I don't know how much time we'll have before they have it shut off- idiot professors. Anyways, come back out and in the confusion the three of us will slip in, grab Z-171985 disk and slip out. Hopefully we will have enough time to get to the jeep, and head back here to meet Quatre-kun and Trowa-kun."  
  
Heero gave a sharp nod, though he wasn't happy with the lack of information.  
  
*Yawn* "Sounds good. Now I'm going to bed. Unlike you two, I have to drive tomorrow. . ." Duo glanced at his wrist watch, "today- fuck, it's twelve thirty. G'night." Duo gathered his plate and his folder of information. Going into the kitchen, he set his plate on the counter to be cleaned at a more convenient time. Passing by the dining room again, he saw Heero and Wufei start to gather together their folders so that they could get to sleep also.  
  
Duo went down corridor after corridor, finally finding his way to his room. Walking in and half shutting the door, he pulled off his shirt. Absentmindedly rubbing at his neck, which was aching from hours bent over the shoulder of his Gundam (damaged in the last Mobile suit confrontation two weeks ago), he picked his way through weapons, blankets, and clothing across the room towards his bathroom.  
  
Making short work of the rest of his clothes and hair, he stepped into the shower. He was glad for small comforts, such as using one of Quatre's mansions as a safe house. Sometimes they weren't so lucky. The last safe house they had stayed at had been run down, with no available working tap. They hadn't been able to take a shower for a week.  
  
The other pilots were also grateful for the nicer place to stay. Besides their own comfort, they didn't enjoy listening to Duo gripe about his hair, although he did it mostly to get a reaction out of the others. Duo had lived the kind of life, at least in the last few years, where even a roof was heaven sent.  
  
Duo shook himself slightly, seeing no reason to dwell on the past. He washed out the remainder of the conditioner, not easy considering the length of his hair, and stepped out to wrap a towel around his waist. Looking like an immense idiot but not really caring, he wrapped another towel around his head, creating a turban of sorts.  
  
He walked into his room again and picked a pair of boxers out of his knapsack. He pulled them on under his towel then took the towel off, throwing it over a chair haphazardly.  
  
"Do you never clean up after yourself Maxwell?" Duo had whipped around and was at a defensive crouch before the words were even finished.  
  
"Damn it Wufei! Don't *do* that!" He relaxed and stood up, crossing his arms over his chest, slight grooves in the skin showing the scars he had received over the years. Considering the life Wufei only knew a part of, Wufei was surprised he didn't have more scars.  
  
"Just wanted to get a reaction out of you."  
  
"Haha, funny. I'm surprised you're not having a reaction watching me change." He smirked, knowing his last comment would piss off Wufei.  
  
As usual, his face turned bright red. "Maxwell! I'm not as hormonal as you at least! Thank God for small favors." Wufei agitatedly crossed his arms over his chest in a defensive manner.  
  
"Hey, I wasn't watching *you* change."  
  
"I wasn't watching you change! I was bringing you your gun, you left it in the dining room." Wufei moved one arm to reach into his pocket, drawing out a .35 revolver.  
  
"Sure, Chang, whatever you say." He had a smile on his lips as he took his gun from Wufei and set it on the chair near the door.  
  
"You know you look like an idiot with that towel around your head, don't you?"  
  
Duo let out a laugh, picking up his toothbrush and heading for his bathroom. "I wasn't expecting anyone to see me in it."  
  
Wufei's right eyebrow shot up, indication that he was amused. "Okay Maxwell, Good night."  
  
Through a mouthful of toothpaste, he yelled out a goodnight to Wufei as the door closed behind him.  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
  
Things were not going well.  
  
They had driven up to Scotland, leaving around three a.m. They'd gotten there just as night fell and had left the jeep in the depths of what was left of the nearby forest. Heero went into the building through the vent as planned, and had set off the alarm. All three had met up at the front and had walked calmly in, keeping to the shadows every time a soldier had walked by them. When they got to the main computer room on the third floor, Duo and Wufei had stood on either side of the corridor, while Heero had hacked into the database and downloaded the information onto the disk, erasing what was left on the computer.  
  
Everything went wrong when the alarms were cut off. The pilots had been hoping that with all of the confusion, the soldiers in the base wouldn't be able to turn off the alarms for as least another half hour. Obviously, they were wrong.  
  
Hearing muffled gunshots through the door, Heero tucked the disk into the back of his shorts and stood to the side of the door, waiting for someone to come through.  
  
He hadn't anticipated for the small window in the door to shatter, teargas filling the room quickly. Stumbling out, he was caught by an Oz soldier.  
  
Duo and Wufei were in a full-fledged brawl on either side of the corridor. Apparently, this base was more organized than the larger ones they were used to breaking into.  
  
~'That's what we get for underestimating the enemy. If we live at least we'll have learned our lesson.'~ Heero thought rather dryly. He twisted around in his captor's arms, successfully getting out of his grasp. With a high kick to the man's head, he was down.  
  
"02! Mission complete! Let's get out of here!"  
  
Duo looked up at Heero's shout.  
  
"Heero, wat-" he was cut off as a dart from a sedative gun hit him in the neck. He stumbled, reaching behind his neck to pull out the needle. He fell to his knees, and then hit the floor on his side. Wufei tried to get out of the way of the next flying dart, but was hit in the thigh as he ducked under a lunging soldier, giving a muffled growl as he went down.  
  
Heero ran to the end of the hallway, but just as he was turning the corner, he was hit by three consecutive darts. He collapsed, hitting the wall and sliding down as he lost consciousness.  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
  
Heero's eyes opened instantly, unlike the slow, groggy wake up that most people go through. Being the person that he was, he had been trained to wake up all at once, lest he be caught unawares. Sitting up, he inwardly winced at the pain in his arm. Looking down, he realized his arm was broken, a large growing bruise surrounding the fracture. He stood using the wall as support. Using his uninjured arm, he checked the back of his shorts.  
  
~'Good.'~  
  
Because of the cold weather so common in Scotland, all three of the pilots had opted to wear their piloting jackets. The back of the jacket had apparently concealed the bulge of the disk, so, until he was interrogated, the disk was safe.  
  
Looking around, he saw that Wufei was awake, sitting Indian style on the floor, meditating. Although bruised, he hadn't been beaten that badly while they had both been unconscious. Wufei opened his eyes and looked over at Heero.  
  
"They have 02. I've already dealt with the cameras and listening devises in the room. They must have hit you with a stronger sedative than 02 and I."  
  
Heero nodded taking a hold of his broken arm.  
  
"When 02 is back we'll break out. The lock can't be to terribly confusing." Heero nodded towards the control panel against the wall.  
  
"Yes, I've already checked it out. Although I'm not much of a lock breaker, either you or 02 shouldn't have too much trouble with it."  
  
The door opened just then, and the room was assaulted with light. Both Gundam pilots' eyes adjusted to the light, expecting to see Duo, but instead, four strangers stumbled in, dressed in the oddest clothing.  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
  
"What, you don't like it? Come on. . ." Duo growled in response. He'd been in the *interrogation* room for about an hour. He had been tied to a chair, handcuffs holding his arms behind him.  
  
What appeared to be the leader of the three interrogators was probably one of the more sadistic and perverted of the interrogators Duo had ever met. He had pulled the zipper down on Duo's jeans and was repeatedly stroking Duo. The interrogator leaned forward, licking from the back of his ear to the edge of were his zipped up jacket met his throat.  
  
Hitting a sensitive spot behind his ear, Duo moaned in spite of himself, the noise forcing its way from deep within his throat. He jerked back, disgusted with the man in front of him and with himself.  
  
~' Sick Bastard! God, I hate them *so* much!'~ This wasn't the first time he'd felt so dirty, but he wished it was his last.  
  
The interrogator nipped gently before biting into the side of his neck, enough to break skin. Duo jerked his head back further. The Interrogator moved back, smiling darkly.  
  
"Tell me what you were doing here Gundam Pilot, or I will do worse then just this."  
  
Duo kept his mouth shut, glaring at the larger man. Because of the last Mobile fight, in which Wufei had been seen up close by Zechs, the Oz soldiers knew that Wufei was a Gundam pilot. By association, they figured that Duo was one as well.  
  
Even though they were right, he didn't say a word telling them if he was or not. Duo didn't really know why they didn't question Wufei first, since they were positive he was a Gundam pilot, but he suspected it was because of his looks. He may be strong in his own right, but he did have an almost feminine look to him, something the crueler of the Oz soldiers craved.  
  
After another moment of silence, another one of the Oz soldiers, equally large as the first who obviously enjoyed inflicting pain more than taking pleasure, came forward and punched him in the stomach, the chair almost toppling over with the force. Duo heard and felt the cracking of one of his ribs as air was forced out of his lungs. "Itai!" He saw black spots on the edge of his vision. Knowing enough about anatomy, even in his half unconscious state, he knew he wasn't in any danger of puncturing any major organs. Thank God for small favors.  
  
The tempo of the hand on him speed up and he started breathing harder, cursing his body's reactions. In his mind, he knew he couldn't really stop his body from reacting but he wished he could, nonetheless. Fear and pain were aphrodisiacs in their own right, however morbid.  
  
He'd been given a black eye and tears gathered at the corner from the pain and his own emotions. He wanted to kick himself for showing how much this was affecting him. He was stronger than this dammit! He blinked the tears away then shut his eyes tight, cursing Oz and especially the interrogators in the room with him, hating what the world had come to. The third interrogator, who Duo thought didn't really belong in a place like Oz, spoke up.  
  
"Um. . . Wilkes, I don't think he's going to speak. We might as well bring him back to his cell before he loses consciousness."  
  
"I just wanna have a little fun with him before we kill all three of them."  
  
Duo opened his eyes to stare into Wilkes eyes. They were practically glowing with pleasure.  
  
~'I cant believe this bastard's actually *enjoying* this!'~ Duo narrowed his eyes and spit in his face. Wilkes jumped back, thankfully taking his hands away from Duo to wipe the spit from his face.  
  
"Argg! You prick!" he hit him across the face, snapping Duo's head to the side before he backed off.  
  
"Fine! Bring him back to his cell." His face scrunched up in what could only be called disgust as he walked out of the room. The other bastard roughly untied him, zipped him up, and half carried him with the support of the other soldier.  
  
Practically dragging him back to the cell, they guided him through hallway after hallway towards their destination.  
  
Calming his breathing and his own emotions in general, Duo schooled his features into a decidedly indifferent face.  
  
~'Ah, the masks we wear. One façade to another.'~ Duo smiled bitterly at the thought.  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Harry Potter Cannon characters in chapter two!  
  
  
  
[1] Wufei is known for carrying around a curved sword. The name of it eludes me right now, though, so we'll just call it a large curved sword for now.  
  
Editor's Note 1: I've heard it called a scimitar, a cavalry sabre, and a plain curved-blade sword. Pick one.  
  
-Author: Esca Girl and Brimstone remember it: its called a katana. At least, that's what I've always heard it named as but fanfiction is an imprecise science, people are known to be wrong ;-P  
  
[2] This is a mystery, unto itself. Heero regularly wears black spandex and a green tank top, so it's surprising when he puts his arm behind his back and suddenly he has a gun. Where does he keep it? Does he tuck it into the waistband of his shorts? If he does, why do we not see the bulge? *Widens eyes* it's spooky!  
  
Editor's Note 2: That's "Spandex Space" for ya! ::explains:: In anime, there's this thing called "Hammer Space" from which female anime characters will pull a large pink mallet to hit idiot males on the head with. It's. sort of like a demented warp hole, from what I've been able to tell. GW fans suspect the variant, called "Spandex Space" in honor of Yuy's regular ensemble, with regards to the location of that damned gun.  
  
[3] A threat heard so often in fanfiction it's cliché. Well, since I'm writing this in the Harry Potter section, its not cliché to my readers so ha!  
  
Editor's Note 3: There's a major reason for this, as noted in the GW Zero Episode, that has to do with Duo's childhood on L2 at the Maxwell Church. However, since this is a somewhat altered reality. ::wry smile:: .I'm sure there's another reason for it.  
  
Author's notes:  
  
Yay! See, I got the chapter out! Thanks to those who reviewed! I've already got the next chapter written, I'm just waiting for either a beta reader to show up, or for me to read it a few times to check it over.  
  
Dark-One Shadowphyre - yay! You can be my official unofficial beta reader! Oh, and about Duo looking nothing like Harry. All will be explained in either chapter four, or five. Considering I already have chapter three finished it shouldn't take too long ( don't worry, I don't wanna leave any plot holes, it'll all make sense later.  
  
Brimstone- hehe, yeah, I didn't think there were even close to enough Gundam Wing/Harry potter crossovers. I only know of one worthwhile- its called Parallel and its on my fave's list- check it out!  
  
Dark Hikari Kamiya- if I ever have writers block, I will most definetly go to you (  
  
Tempted Mischief- thank you so much for the review on my second chapter (well first after the prologue). I'm glad someone thinks it was well written. I'm actually reposting it because I saw a bunch of errors I didn't like. I'm a perfectionist, what can I say?  
  
  
  
If you don't really know much about Gundam Wing or it's characters, go to the site I mentioned on the above authors notes.  
  
Here's the site again if you missed it:  
  
http://members.tripod.com/duonomiko2/gweb/gwasd.html  
  
Oh yeah, and the piloting jacket I mentioned- well, heres a pic if you didn't catch that link at the top either:  
  
http://photos.yahoo.com/fa3rydust85  
  
Click on the Firefly Tides folder.  
  
Review! 


	3. Old Faces, New Faces

Title: Firefly Tides  
  
Author name: CherryStain  
  
Author email: CherryStain@hotmail.com  
  
Category: Drama/Angst  
  
Rating for this chapter: This chapter is probably pg-13. Nothing too heavy, just a lot of arguing.  
  
Spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, FB, QTTA, Gundam Wing.  
  
Summary: Harry, forever The-Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Die meets familiar faces after thinking them dead for over Five-Hundred Years. Crossover with Gundam Wing, will have slash, though won't be centered on it. Harry Potter canon characters make an appearance! (  
  
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Gundam Wing is the property of. someone, and that's not me, so. the uses of these characters are in no way profitable to me.  
  
Authors Notes: Hey! Wow, I'm writing these chapters a lot faster than I anticipated. Anyways, you'll finally see some more Harry Potter Canon characters ( um. not much else to write except, Review!  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter Two- Old Faces, New Faces  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"I think something's wrong here do you think something's wrong here 'cause I think something's wrong here and did I mentioned I'm terrified of heights 'cause if I haven't I-"  
  
"Shut it Finnigan!"  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Now, if we just remain calm, collected, and find out exactly were we are, we can figure this out."  
  
Severus Snape, Seamus Finnegan, Hermione Granger, and Draco Malfoy were currently very high up in the air on the roof of what appeared to be a massive concrete building.  
  
"Professor Snape?"  
  
"Yes Mister Malfoy?"  
  
"Why exactly are we here and what-" Whatever he was going to say was cut short by a thump behind where they were all standing and then a yell.  
  
"Hey, you! Raise your arms in the air!"  
  
All four turned to stare at the five or so people that now stood behind them. Pointing guns. At them. They hastily brought their arms above their heads, a little difficult considering how they had a large golden chain around all four of them. Snape quickly yanked off the chain, pulling the clasp apart and jammed it into the front of his robes as he brought his arms up, the necklace collecting at the bottom of the shirt he was wearing under his robe. Considering it was just a rather large but not terribly lethal necklace, and the visibility was near zero, the guards said nothing about it.  
  
"Who are you? Do you have clearance to be here?" A man who looked younger than a fifth year said. A man/woman (for it was unclear as to what his/her gender was) gave the speaker of the question a withering look as if to say 'of *course* they don't have clearance you idiot!'  
  
He looked flustered under the gaze but turned back to the strange group. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I don't-" Snape hissed for Draco to keep his mouth shut and he did. Snape's mind was working furiously, trying to figure out where the hell they were: the strange golden necklace portkey that the headmaster had given him was supposed to take him to get help should they ever need it. Dumbledore had said that . . . well, he actually hadn't said much. Dumbledore had a strange habit of talking without really telling you much. One thing that really made no sense was that the Headmaster had made it clear that the portkey wouldn't actually take them anywhere. Portkey's were *supposed* to take you somewhere. I mean, shouldn't they be in the castle at least? They'd been inside the castle a mere moment ago; they still smelled of the ashes . . .[1]  
  
He snapped out of his thoughts when one of the large-burly-gun-wielding men tugged sharply on his arm, pulling him towards the trapdoor they had come through.  
  
"Hey Roger, look at the clothes on this group? I have no idea how they got in here but they sure as hell aren't a part of Oz, unless the interrogators are finished playing with 02 and like their men in dresses." Snape growled a bit, he didn't understand most of what had been said, but he understood enough to be offended.  
  
"We'll get them talking later on." Snape didn't like the tone of the man's voice, he sounded like a death eater who had stumbled across a small defenseless muggle, "Take him to the holding cell with the others, Vlad, and I'll report this to Zechs via video phone. After she heard about the Pilots showing up, she wanted information on *anything* strange."  
  
"To the others? But-" the man/woman spluttered at the large burly man who had been gripping Snape's arm and who had made the last comment.  
  
"Its under the most guard at the moment. We'll move them later."  
  
"Okay. . . if you're sure. . ."  
  
Two of the five soldiers went down a different path, fading into the barely lit corridor. Snape took a moment to look around himself. There really wasn't much to see. Random doors on either side of them, four walls of metal, with strange glowing balls of light.  
  
~'light bulbs'~  
  
He'd taken Muggle Studies for a year back in his days at Hogwarts (though he'd hated it at the time) and he still remembered some of the names for the odd contraptions that Muggles made to sustain themselves without magic. Clever.  
  
The group of three soldiers, three students, and one Professor twisted down so many corridors they could have doubled back and the wizards wouldn't have realized it. Finally, they came up to a heavy iron door, thicker than any of the doors they'd seen so far. There were two guards at the door who strongly resembled Crabbe and Goyle senior. They dully turned their heads towards the approaching group.  
  
"State yur purpurs." Slightly slurred, a whistle noise coming out between the gap in the guy's front teeth. Both were wearing the same brown uniform that the soldiers holding them captive were wearing.  
  
"We found this strange group lurking about on the roof. Open the door."  
  
The Crabbe/Goyle look-a-likes nodded together than both turned towards the door. On either side of the door were two strange control panels. They typed in a code, most likely synchronized, and the door hissed open. The three guards holding on to the wizards pushed them in, with more force than was obviously needed. Snape stayed standing, but the other three went stumbling for the door. The door was slammed closed and they were surrounded by near darkness. A snicker sounded from behind them. All four of them turned towards the other occupants of the room.  
  
Two guards and a door thicker than any of the others for these two? The two other captives were no older than 5th years! Not for the first time, Snape wondered where Dumbledore had sent him.  
  
One boy sat cross-legged on the floor, the one who had most likely snickered as he was still fighting off a smirk. He was obviously of Chinese descent. He was wearing a black and blue piloting jacket with red piping and dark colored pants [2]. It looked like something he'd seen once on muggle television for aviators. His black hair was pulled back into a too- tight looking ponytail.  
  
The other young man (for there were two in the room) was looking at him with a tense expression. His dark eyes- most likely blue- where trained on him, not blinking, not saying a word. He was wearing a top similar to the other boy, but instead of pants, he had spandex shorts on under. Snape frowned at that. For a person who'd lived with high-necked robes on for most of his life, the shorts were positively indecent.  
  
The boy was standing against a wall directly across from him and to the left of the Chinese boy. He seemed to be favoring his right arm. His hair reminded Snape of Potter's, but this boy was definitely Japanese.  
  
"It's not polite to stare." Snape sent a surprised glance over to the boy sitting on the floor who now had his black eyes trained on Snape's identical black eyes.  
  
"I apologize. I-" Snape was cut off as the door to the room was opened again. This time two soldiers came in half holding up a third figure.  
  
"Hey guys, miss me?" The third figure was dropped onto the floor of the cell without a word and turned to walk away.  
  
"What? No goodbye? It's not right to just walk away, didn't your mother ever tell you that?" One of the figures turned back and gave a kick to the person leg; he curled a bit in on himself but didn't cry out.  
  
"My mother killed herself after you killed my brother and father, Gundam Pilot. If the Count didn't want you and your friends around, I'd kill you myself." He spat at the person's feet before walking out, shutting the door behind him. Snape was more than a little alarmed. Killing? Whoever this boy was- he was too young to be killing people.  
  
"You can't kill the Shinigami bastard!" [3] Snape watched as the American boy-Snape could tell by his accent- pick himself up gingerly, using the wall as support. From his back, Snape could tell that he was wearing the same jacket as the other two, but with a pair of dark jeans. He turned away from the door and glanced behind him towards the other occupants of the room. Snape saw that he had at least a meter and a half's worth of brown hair in a long braid. Even though the hair and his long eyelashes gave him a bit of a feminine look; his build-although slight- was definitely masculine, as was his voice and the rest of his face. He had surreal violet colored eyes, one of which was blackened and starting to swell. Both eyes swept over the group, and then did a double take. They widened so much Snape feared they would fall right out.  
  
"Masaka (impossible). . ." Snape looked shrewdly at the boy. Was that Japanese? The boy snapped out of whatever trance he'd been in.  
  
"Who the hell are you! You're dead!"  
  
Snape had the sudden urge to roll his eyes. He fought it down. "I assure you, whoever you are, that we are not."  
  
The brown haired boy backed into the wall, seemingly frightened of the four. The Chinese boy with the black hair stood in one graceful motion.  
  
"02? What the hell are you raving about? Do you know this group?" The Japanese boy that had originally been leaning against the wall moved away from the wall and took up a more defensive position.  
  
The braided youth- 02- looked furtively at the Chinese boy then focused on Snape.  
  
"Pro-professor?"  
  
Duo's thoughts were raging at a mile a minute, not even sure if he'd spoken aloud.  
  
~'This wasn't happening. This was NOT happening. They were dead! They'd been dead for five hundred years!'~ He looked closely at the apparition- for that's what it must be- of Professor Snape. He looked just as he had in class that last day! Then again, his wardrobe wasn't exactly erratic.  
  
Duo turned towards the Chinese boy.  
  
"I think they've finally driven me crazy Wufei. What do you see?"  
  
"Don't play jokes 02. And don't use my name!"  
  
"I'm serious!" Wufei was a bit alarmed by Maxwell's behavior. Sure, he'd seen him joking, seen him serious on missions, but he'd never seen him like- well, he looked like a cross between terrified and totally bewildered. Wufei glanced at Yuy. He gave a nod as if to say 'humor him.'  
  
"I see. . . four very strange people in what appear to be dresses-"  
  
"Hey!" A withering glare was sent by Yuy to the blonde haired wizard, which effectively shut him up so that Wufei could continue.  
  
"An onna with brown hair. 5'2". Probably one hundred and ten pounds. Birthmarks distinguishable are-"  
  
"05, don't be a smart ass for once."  
  
"Do you want me to finish this or not? Two boys, one with brown hair and another with Quatre's pale coloring."  
  
"Hey! I am *not* pale!" Wufei glanced coldly at the blonde haired boy.  
  
"Correction. I see two *boys*, one of which whines like an onna, has Quatre's coloring, but none of his disposition. Now, if you would like me to finish?" The blonde boy opened his mouth but Wufei talked over him. "Right, the last of what I see is a man around thirty, black eyes, black hair. All four are covered in what appears to be smoke ash."  
  
Duo looked even more shaken up by the news. Wufei feared for his sanity.  
  
"What? Is that not what you see 02?"  
  
"Hai (yes). . .that's what I see too." He stepped closer to the odd quartet, all of which were starting to feel just a bit uncomfortable with all of the scrutiny.  
  
A voice came from the silent Japanese boy.  
  
"You know this group don't you?"  
  
"Hai. . . but I haven't seen them since I was in school. . ." Duo answered absentmindedly.  
  
"From the Peacecraft onna's school?"  
  
"No 05, now shut it!" venom was in his tone. For once, Wufei heeded his words.  
  
"Now you lot. Raise your arms in the air. I want you to answer a few questions."  
  
"Whoever you are boy, I do not tolerate-"  
  
"Shut the hell up Snape! Now raise your arms in the air! I may be tired and battered as hell but I know I could snap your neck in a second." Snape doubted this, but raised his arms, the other three followed.  
  
"Okay," Duo started to pace in front of them, fiddling with the end of his braid. Wufei knew this as a sign that the American was thinking and stressing. Duo winced and put one arm over his side but kept pacing.  
  
"Okay," he repeated again, "Hermione-"  
  
"How did you-"  
  
"No questions! Hermione, I'll ask you some easy questions. How old are you?"  
  
"Sixteen."  
  
"What is the date?"  
  
"The Fifth of April, 1996." A splutter came from Wufei and Heero's eyes looked, if not surprised, than at least more clinically interested. Duo looked as if he were thinking hard about something.  
  
"Malfoy, where were all of you?"  
  
"In class, well, we were until the bloody foundation shook." Snape glanced at him, indicating for him not to give up too much information. After a moment of silence, Duo turned towards Seamus.  
  
"Seamus, what are your bloodlines?"  
  
"I'm a Half blood. Da's a- well, I'm not sure if I'm aloud to tell ya." Seamus cast a questioning look at Snape. Snape nodded, watching the whole process.  
  
"Da's a muggle." Wufei wanted to laugh at what sounded like some sort of new slang word, but kept his mouth shut, wanting to find out what Duo was doing.  
  
"Hermione, who are your best friends?"  
  
"Harry Potter and Ron Weasley."  
  
"Ano (umm). . . why were you in love with Gilderoy Lockhart in third year?"  
  
"Hey! I was only thirteen! So, I made a bad choice-" Hermione's mind finally caught up with her, "wait- how did you-"  
  
"Okay, typical answer from Hermione. Now, I'll ask you something only Hermione would know, if you truly are Hermione. Who are Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs and how are they in relation to Harry Potter?"  
  
"I can't tell you-"  
  
"Tell me or I won't believe you. If I don't believe you, than you won't live to leave this cell."  
  
"Moony is Profess- sorry, Remus Lupin, friend of Harry's father. Prongs was Harry's father James. All four called themselves Marauder's when they were at Hogwarts together."  
  
"What of the other two?"  
  
"I- I can't tell you."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I promised Harry."  
  
"What if I told you part of it, and you told me the rest?"  
  
"Okay. . ."  
  
"Wormtail, rat that he is, is a good for nothing asshole named Peter Pettigrew. He handed James and Lily Potter over to Voldemort and now they're dead."  
  
"Bloody hell! How do you know all of this?! Only-"  
  
"Language Hermione! What would Ron think? Ten points from Gryffindor!" Duo, who had gotten over some of his shock, smiled grimly.  
  
Hermione scrutinized the boy in front of her. His voice sounded oddly familiar, and his facial features- but no, the coloring was all wrong! But could it-  
  
"Harry?" she asked, scarcely daring to hope. An almost bittersweet smile crossed his features.  
  
"I was known as that once. . ."  
  
Wufei and Heero cast questioning eyes at their comrade but stayed silent, wanting more information. The pilots noticed that the four oddly dressed strangers all lowered their arms, looking at Duo in shock, their mouths opening of their own accord.  
  
Hermione wanted to cross the room and envelop him in a hug. He was alive! She'd been so scared when the walls of the dungeon had started shaking. And then there had been so much dust- and then the screaming-  
  
"But! Your hair, and your eyes?!"  
  
"Not now. We," he waved an arm in the general direction of Heero and Wufei, "may be able to handle those perverted bastards they call interrogators- but the four of you won't be able to."  
  
"02- we cannot take them with us. If you endanger the mission-"  
  
"Yes, yes, Heero, you will torture me, destroy my Gundam, and kill me."  
  
"I would torture and kill you, but I would save the Gundam." Hermione was surprised and not a little frightened by the boy's tone of voice, he sounded deadly serious.  
  
"Nice to know you care Heero." In three strides the boy was across the room and had Duo- or Harry- or Duo- the braided boy shoved up against the wall, one arm holding Duo up while the other hung at his side.  
  
"Itai! Careful, damn it, I think I have a broken rib!"  
  
"I do not trust this group *02* so use my number or I will silence you myself." Duo pushed hard against Heero and he stepped back a few paces, but did not stumble. Duo hunched over, breathing hard, trying to regain some semblance of composure.  
  
"I would trust them with my life-well, maybe not Malfoy, but definitely the other three." The two stared at each other, a battle of wills.  
  
Draco finally spoke up to stop the boy's staring contest. "Potter, if that really is you- I'd like a few questions answered also, like where are we?"  
  
"For once, I agree with Malfoy over here," Seamus finally spoke up.  
  
Duo (or Harry) looked each of the four wizards in the eye, letting a smirk cross his face as his eyes swept across the group.  
  
"Not where, but when."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
  
Author's notes: nope, no explanation yet ( anyways, say thank you to my beta-reader! And um, review!  
  
[1] This is somewhat of a hint of what happened in Harry's sixth year. I think after the third chapter, I'm going to start writing flashbacks of sixth year, just so that you can get a clearer view of what exactly happened. Hehe, and that comment about Dumbledore talking and never really *telling* you what you want to know, it'll relate to my writing too ::smile:: you'll be sick of me evading the story for a while, at least.  
  
[2] I'm sure I already mentioned this jacket. Actually, I'm not even sure why I'm leaving a subscript for it ::shrug::  
  
[3] Erm, Duo's a little loopy in the head. Shinegami means the "God of Death." In the anime and manga, Duo calls himself this because he's experiences so much death and seen so many people die, he can sort of . . . relate. The reasons in my story are similar, but it'll be explained more in later chapters. I sort of tweak Duo's life story ( 


	4. One Step Foreward, Two Steps Back

Title: Firefly Tides  
  
Author name: CherryStain  
  
Author email: CherryStain@hotmail.com  
  
Category: Drama/Angst  
  
Rating for this chapter: This chapter is probably pg-13. Nothing too heavy, just a lot of arguing.  
  
Spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, FB, QTTA, Gundam Wing.  
  
Summary: Harry, forever The-Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Die meets familiar faces after thinking them dead for over Five-Hundred Years. Crossover with Gundam Wing, will have slash, though won't be centered on it. Our little group finally escape! (  
  
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Gundam Wing is the property of. someone, and that's not me, so. the uses of these characters are in no way profitable to me.  
  
Authors Notes: Finally, something happens! Sort of. . . Anyways, this chapter is called what it's called because I get a few questions answered, but it just adds a whole lot more of them. :-) I'm rather cruel.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter Two- One Step Forward, Two Steps Back  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The response to his announcement was more or less what he expected.  
  
Everyone just sort of blinked. And then blinked again. Wizards, being who they were, accepted the time change, more surprised that it had happened. Wufei looked like Duo had lost his mind, and Heero's posture barely changed.  
  
Snape was the first to speak.  
  
"But . . . a Time-Turner takes you to the past. We should have still been in Hogwarts, not on the top of some bloody concrete block!  
  
Seamus added to Snape's exclamation, "And- what are you doing here and why do you look like that?"  
  
Wufei spluttered, not even sure *what* to ask first. Heero just waited for Duo to continue, knowing that he eventually would.  
  
"First of all, whatever brought you here could not have been a simple Time- Turner. You are five-hundred years in the future."  
  
Now the four wizards looked truly surprised. Some spluttered, Snape and Draco more or less lost all of their decorum, Seamus cursed, and Hermione started asking half questions, looking as if she couldn't quite figure out what to ask first. Duo let them all let off a bit of steam before yelling over them.  
  
"Quiet!" a bit shocked by the rather ear- numbing command, everyone fell silent.  
  
"Now, we can't keep having this conversation. This is neither the time nor the place. Just- I don't know- save your questions till later. I'm going to deal with this lock," Duo indicated the control panel, "and the rest of you are going to deal with yourselves. No more questions about it until later. Got it?" It was not a question.  
  
They all nodded and arranged themselves in different parts of the room. Hermione and Wufei came up to Duo as he lowered himself into a crouching position in front of the panel.  
  
"Before you ask Wufei, no I did not say anything." Duo spoke over his shoulder. " They do know that we are the Gundam Pilots though, your face is rather hard to forget."  
  
"Damn, that complicates things." Looking a bit uncomfortable, Wufei continued on, "you're okay, right? Something must be wrong with your ribs."  
  
"Yeah, I'm more or less okay, perverted baka broke a rib, though." Duo carefully pried off the cover of the panel. Hermione, finding the idea that Harry of all people was dismantling an obviously complicated lock and alarm, watched.  
  
"How did you learn all of this? I mean, I know, I'm not supposed to ask any questions, but since your Harry, you know me enough to know I have to have at least a little information to tide me over." She smiled and he laughed a bit.  
  
"I learned it over the years." She frowned but stood quietly, getting the hint that he wasn't saying a word till he was ready. Wufei, meanwhile, had backed away, going over to Heero.  
  
Snape, who had been watching the exchange from the other side of the room, also came over to look over Duo's shoulder. Both Snape and Hermione curiously watched him shuffle through the dozen or so multi-colored wires inside. Duo let a smirk cross his features as he mentally went through a checklist of the wire's input and output areas, and what the colors stood for.  
  
"I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the brightly colored sheath's with its copper center, the delicate power of circuits that creep through the wires, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses. . ."  
  
Duo smiled in triumph as he finally chose the red wire.  
  
Snape furrowed his brow. Where had he heard that? Oh, yes, now he remembered. A variation of his regular first-years speech . . .  
  
"You actually remembered that?"  
  
Duo chuckled, reaching for the back of his braid. "I've got a great memory. You'd be surprised at all of the things I remember." Duo pulled a small black slip out of his braid. Opening a flap on the side, he pulled out a razor blade.  
  
"You keep tools in your braid?" Hermione asked, looking slightly perplexed at the thought. Duo smiled, "Hey, who would ever think of finding weapons or escape devises in a braid?" Duo leaned forward and, using the blade, took the sheath off the wire, exposing the copper underneath. Again, Duo shuffled through the wires before selecting a yellow wire and pealing away the plastic. Reaching back for his braid again, he pulled out a bobby pin. At Hermione and Snape's questioning look, he replied "Copper," before twisting the bit of copper around the two wires.  
  
Duo stood up, using the wall for support. He looked back over at Heero and Wufei who were quietly discussing something.  
  
"Hey you guys, I've re-routed the circuit. In another few minutes the door should open up." Snape and Hermione looked back just as the first number of the code showed up on the panel, leaving four more to go.  
  
Duo glanced at Heero's arm. "Careful of your arm too, there are two abominably huge guards on the other side and-" Duo's eyes widened, "Don't you dare set that like you did your leg because if you are I don't want to- "  
  
*CRACK*  
  
Pretty much all of the occupants of the room cringed and looked away as Duo made gagging noises.  
  
"That's really disgusting 01. Here," Duo went over to one of the metal pipes lining the walls, tapped it, most likely to check if there was anything inside, then reached up to tried to break it off. Wincing, he turned to the other occupants of the room. Wufei obligingly came up and pulled off about a foot of pipe.  
  
Duo took it from him and came over to Heero. "Set your arm with this and- does anyone have a belt?"  
  
Snape remembered that he'd put on a belt that morning- or, well, the morning in which he'd woken up- so he unbuttoned his robes, taking off his belt when it was open.  
  
Duo blinked then laughed in spite of the situation. "Hermione, you owe me five Galleons."  
  
Hermione frowned, than blushed. "Haaarrrrrryyyyy." Very un-Hermione like. Seamus joined in, "Damn, I owe you too."  
  
Snape blinked, then scowled. "You were betting on whether I wore anything under my robes, weren't you?"  
  
Hermione looked like she wanted to sink into the floor. The other Hogwarts alumni laughed harder. Wufei thought it odd that he was even *wearing* robes.  
  
Wufei coughed. "This is all very interesting Maxwell, but we've got to go." He nodded towards the control panel, which only had one number to go.  
  
Duo sobered, "Right, You lot," He pointed to the four wizards, " I trust you can run in robes? I don't think you'll really need to fight."  
  
"You've got a broken rib Harry, and this guy," Hermione pointed towards Heero, "Has a broken arm. We'll *have* to fight." She reached into the pocket of her robe.  
  
Duo, for that was who he truly was now, smiled none the less at the use of his real name. However, when he saw her reach for her pocket he shook his head.  
  
"No."  
  
"But Potter-" Draco had also been reaching for his wand.  
  
"No. Believe me, it will all be explained later. Just trust me."  
  
"If they have weapons-"  
  
"No Wufei, I'm serious, they can't use the weapons they have." Wufei dearly wanted it all explained *now* but he knew when Duo was resolutely set on something, although nothing would stop him from prying the information from Duo when they were out of this base.  
  
"Step back, the door is about to open." Snape and the three students stepped back as Heero, with his arm set, and Wufei came up to the door with Duo just as the door hissed open, sliding into the wall.  
  
Heero pulled his gun out of previously mentioned Spandex Space [1] and aimed it with one hand. Duo hissed under his breath.  
  
"Don't kill them. They aren't used to watching people die." Duo indicated with his eyes to the four behind them. Heero gave a sharp nod.  
  
The first Guard practically leapt into the room, probably hoping to take them by surprise. Just as he aimed his gun, Heero fired a shot at his hand, gun falling when he cried out. A scream, probably from Hermione sounded behind them, but the three were already concentrated on the fight and barely registered it.  
  
Wufei aimed a high kick to the huge guy's stomach. The other guard came in but Duo hit the back of his neck before he so much as raised his gun. Both collapsed and the three pilots stepped over them, Wufei and Duo reaching down to take both of their guns. Wufei and Heero went out into the hallway to check for more guards while Duo hung back. He looked into the barrel of his gun checking for bullets, before he looked over at the other occupants of the room. He smiled at the totally shocked expressions of the wizards.  
  
"I've lived life like this for so long I've forgotten that it might shock some." Duo chuckled, "You haven't even seen Heero in full soldier mode either!"  
  
"Bloody hell . . ." Duo smiled wider at Snape's cursing. It was fun watching his old professor totally unhinged. "You've seen nothing yet." He rocked his head to the side, indicating that they should follow.  
  
Keeping to the wall, Duo led the way and Heero and Wufei brought up the rear, with the four wizards sandwiched between them.  
  
After approximately five minutes of going down corridor after corridor and glancing around corners, they came upon a door leading to a staircase. Duo reached back and silently put his hand flat on Snape's chest, who had been directly behind him, as a signal for them to stay back. Duo slipped behind the door, then after a tense moment or two opened it up to let the others through.  
  
"It's clear, we should be able to get to the first floor without incident."  
  
Letting Wufei take the lead, Duo went to the back, deliberating quietly to Heero. Snape, curious, also lagged behind.  
  
"The bathroom? Are you sure? I'm not sure that air vent is large enough."  
  
"None of us are overly large 02, and it heads directly outside."  
  
"But the closest bathroom is a lot further down the hallway and we'll have passed at least three vents before then. The first floor is most likely teaming with Oz minions too."  
  
"We'll have to risk it. How many bullets do you have?"  
  
Snape was completely bewildered with the conversation. What did Harry *do* exactly? He was obviously quite proficient in fighting and, as it looked, breaking and entering. What had happened to him- had he been sent through time also? If so, how did he know so much about everything? Was he sent earlier? His physical changes, however miniscule, screamed of Glamour magic. But that wasn't even *taught* at Hogwarts! Snape was completely overwhelmed and he didn't really have the time or the proper information to deal with all of it.  
  
They came upon the doorway to the first floor. Again, Duo came up to the front, coming up level with Wufei. Wufei cracked the door open and Duo peaked through. He waved his arm to indicate that it was all clear. The group silently slipped through the door, keeping to the walls on either side. Coming to a bend in the corridor, they came up to their first problem.  
  
"Shit, we've got about seven coming this way. Stay in the shadows." They obliged.  
  
When the seven came around the corner, Duo shot the guns out of three of the soldier's hands while Heero and Wufei opted for the physical, kicking them away. With a right hook that most likely hurt like hell with his broken rib, Duo knocked one guy out cold, kicking out his leg to catch the second guy in the stomach. Duo spun around and brought his elbow down on the second guys' neck. Two down.  
  
Heero meanwhile, had rendered one man unconscious with a well-placed kick to the man's knees and head. The last four were easily taken down by Heero and Wufei both.  
  
Again, as Heero and Wufei went ahead, Duo looked back at the people who had only known him as Harry and smirked.  
  
"Just wait till you see us in space."  
  
As luck would have it, they encountered no one else until they reached the bathroom. All of them slipped in and Heero walked over to a toilet stall, indicating for the others to follow.  
  
Wufei, mindful of Duo and Heero's injuries, walked over to the toilet and stood. Duo again reached for his braid, this time pulling out a small screwdriver and handed it over to Wufei. As Wufei worked on unscrewing the cover of the vent, Duo went over to the door and cracked it open; peering out to make sure that no one was coming.  
  
Hermione, Seamus, Draco, and Heero stood at the foot of Wufei as Snape walked over to Duo, intensely curious as to how Harry had changed since he had last seen him in class a few short hours ago.  
  
Duo offered a grin. "Surprised that James Potter's son is an international terrorist, eh?"  
  
"Terrorist?!"  
  
Duo laughed softly, again glancing out the door. "I might as well tell you a bit of my history. I'm part of a small group; we're a large part of the war going on right now. Actually, we're right in the middle of it."  
  
Duo looked over to Wufei, who had taken off the screen on the vent and was in the process of lifting Heero through it so that he could lead the way.  
  
"At least you have some experience with war. I'm not sure how Hermione, Malfoy, and Seamus will take to it. Not well, I'm guessing. I think the lot of you are stuck with me for a while, though."  
  
"What exactly is this war all about?"  
  
"That, I'll have to explain later. It's rather messy and spans two decades." Duo smiled, again looking over as Wufei, who had finished bringing up everyone, was now pulling himself up. He peaked his head down, meeting Duo's eyes and indicating that they should follow.  
  
"Lift me up? Adrenaline is all but gone and I don't really have the will- power right now to deal with the pain."  
  
Severus nodded, standing on the toilet and lifting Duo up and above him. Snape held onto Duo's waist, were his jacket rode up. He was surprised at the muscle beneath his fingers.  
  
Snape blinked, then concentrated on lifting himself up and into the rather cramped vent. Snape could just make out the Chinese boy, Wufei, glancing back to make sure they had made it into the vent before turning the corner on hands and knees. "How long have you been here? Were you also given a strange transportation device by Dumbledore?" Duo let out a sharp bark of humorless laughter before quieting himself.  
  
"No, baka, I'm over five hundred years old."  
  
Snape's eyes practically bulged out. Five hundred years old?! That definitely wasn't normal, even by wizarding standards! Before he could say anything, Duo shushed him, pointing below.  
  
Severus could just barely make out the sound of voices in the distance, coming towards the bathroom. Someone, most likely the Chinese boy who had been last coming up through the vent, had had the presence of mind to bring up the vent screen and Duo was now hastily replacing it. He picked up his screwdriver, which was lying next to the screen, and put it into his braid.  
  
Snape was dying to ask questions, but knew that the soldiers that were now in the bathroom below them would hear him. Snape tilted his head to the side, wanting Duo to take the lead, as they were now far enough from the others that Snape could not follow them. Duo squeezed past him, and Snape caught a trace of his scent; vanilla and gunpowder. Snape was stunned that he really liked the way he smelled. Snape shook himself; the boy was only sixteen after all!  
  
~' But he's really not, is he?'~ Snape frowned at the thought, silently following Duo through the vents.  
  
After an unknown amount of time, they came to the others, who had been waiting for them. Duo, obviously realizing why, took the screwdriver out of his braid and passed it to Wufei, who in turn passed it along until it reached Heero at the front. Heero made short work of the vent, and in no time they where out in the fresh air, leaning against the wall as Heero replaced the vent.  
  
It was in the twilight hours of the night, the waning moon barely enough light to illuminate the dark outline of trees. One especially gnarled tree caught all of their attention. Some branches seemed to be reaching for the air, while others twined around the trees nearby as if struggling. With a jolt, Snape, and most likely the other Hogwarts alumni recognized the trees for what they were.  
  
"Is that the Womping Wi-" Duo covered Hermione's mouth. He whispered back for them to be silent.  
  
"Yes, I'll explain later." With that, he sprinted across the field towards the trees. The others followed close behind. An alarm, obviously too late, had been sounded and there were soldiers everywhere, but luckily no spotlights had been brought out. All of them were dressed in dark colors, the wizards in their robes and the pilots in their jackets and dark bottoms, so they had blended with the darkness around them. They reached the trees without being spotted. Following the pilots silently, they reached a jeep in the clearly debilitating forest.  
  
The wizards noticed that the surrounding forest, viewed from their previous location, had seamed a lot larger. Now they could tell that something had wiped out most of it. Duo silently pulled out the first aid kit, Wufei helping him bind his midsection tightly.  
  
Getting all packed into the jeep was a whole other problem. Wufei, and Heero ended up seated up front. Seamus, Draco, and Hermione had ended up in the seats behind them. They had obviously packed sleeping bags, because Duo quickly unwrapped them and laid them out in the back. The braided pilot and Severus got in the back and closed the door just as Wufei started the engine. Within minutes, they were out of the forest and on a dirt road leading to Interstate 91.  
  
Hermione turned in her seat, glancing back at Severus and Duo who were leaning on opposite sides of the trunk. "Good, now you can explain to the rest of us what exactly is going on."  
  
"No, I'm going to sleep. Adrenaline is fading and my injuries are catching up with me. We'll talk at the manor." And with that, Duo turned on his side and was asleep in seconds.  
  
::blink::blink:: "Manor?"  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~ Author's Notes: Hehe, thought I was actually going to get some stuff cleared out, eh? Why do Harry and Duo (the same person, by the way) look different from each other? Why is Duo/Harry the way he is now? What has become of the Wizarding world? Why can't Snape, Malfoy, Hermione, and Seamus use their wands? ::cackles:: you'll never find out, Never! Erm, okay, maybe not .  
  
Side notes: [1] Look at chapter two's notes.  
  
  
  
Brimstone- hehe, yep, I like the sound of it also (  
  
~F~ Hehe, I'm glad you like this story. There aren't nearly enough gundamwing/Harry Potter crossovers.  
  
Shinegami- hi! Wow, lots of reviews from you, I don't mind though- makes me happy( yeah, this will be slash, and Duo will be with a guy- but which one? Tell me if you find everyone's reactions satisfactory, because I'm not sure if I got it quite right. Oh yes, and there is a reason why Duo told the pilots he was 15. He wanted to get as many years as possible with the pilots because, I mean, after a while, the pilots are going to notice that he hasn't grown any. Also, he's small enough to pass for a fifteen year old. Oh yes, and on the subject of Relena . . . I still haven't decided on how to portray her. I mean, a lot of people write her as a bratty obsessive girl, but she's not all that bad, just really, really naïve. And well, she will probably still have a thing for Heero. I'm not exactly sure what to do with Heero but he needs more character depth. He's a bit too two- dimensional right now.  
  
Tdei- well, the chaps out now (  
  
j. Lynn- thanks for pointing it out, I totally missed it.  
  
gundamgirl_1321- thanks for the offer, but I have a great beta right now. If the story ever gets to be too complicated for the two of us, I'll definetly e mail you. Erm, my story might be 3x4 but I'm not sure yet. If it is though, it wont be established for another few chapters.  
  
  
  
  
  
Review! 


	5. Too Many Buttons

Title: Firefly Tides  
  
Author name: CherryStain  
  
Author email: CherryStain@hotmail.com  
  
Category: Drama/Angst  
  
Rating for this chapter: This chapter is probably pg-13. Nothing too heavy, just a lot of arguing.  
  
Spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, FB, QTTA, Gundam Wing.  
  
Summary: Harry, forever The-Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Die meets familiar faces after thinking them dead for over Five-Hundred Years. Crossover with Gundam Wing, will have slash, though won't be centered on it. next chapter is at the manor. (  
  
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Gundam Wing manga series; story by Hajime Yadate & Yoshiyuki Tomino, art by Koichi Tokita.  
  
  
  
Authors Notes: I'm definitely getting these out fast. Well, the two other pilots finally show up, so now we've got the whole group! Um, a few announcements. Don't get mad at me for totally messing with the Gundam Timeline. I want to use events from the GW timeline, just not in the right order exactly. Oh, and don't worry, the whole "misplaced in time" group of wizards will eventually make it back, but Duo just can't deal with them right now, what with fighting a war and all.  
  
Oh yes! And there are a few quotes, or at least variations of the quotes, in this chapter. I got the quotes off of [http://www.angelfire.com/gundam/altuniverse/index1.html]. I'm having a sort of contest. If you find all of them, then you get the next chapter sent to you a day before it's posted. Just copy and paste all of the quotes onto an e-mail and send it to [CherryStain@hotmail.com].  
  
  
  
  
  
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Chapter Three- Too Many Buttons!  
  
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"This would *definitely* be considered a manor." Seamus, Hermione, Snape, and yes, even the filthy rich Draco Malfoy were all staring up at the Winner mansion in wonder.  
  
The mansion had to have at least a hundred rooms, and they hadn't even seen the grounds behind it yet! A cobblestone drive, large eucalyptus trees lining it, led up to the front doors, then curved around to a garage on the side of the main building. It was all done in a Spanish villa style, all red tiled roofs and ivy-covered balconies. In the center of the turn-a-bout on the front of the house, there was a small pond with a weeping willow sweeping to the edge of it. All in all, it was breathtaking.  
  
Hermione, who had wanted to talk to Harry when they reached their destination, was disappointed. He was still fast asleep. For reasons unknown, she was rather nervous to talk to Harry. Harry could not have changed that much, could he? From the brief conversations with him, he seemed different. Darker, not evil, just not as he had been yesterday - well- at least, the day in which she'd been in before the explosion and this whole crazy mess. How long had Harry been in this place? Was he sent here along with them but had been lost sometime in time? She was scared of what had happened in this future . . . scared that she had lost all that she had loved. As she gazed up at the mansion, she also hoped that she would be able to get back to her original time as soon as possible, were the variables weren't so endless.  
  
"Welcome to Master Winner's Home. Shall we be preparing rooms for you?" All four turned towards a large Middle Eastern man who had just walked out of the side door, previously unnoticed.  
  
::blink:: "Winner?"  
  
"Yes, have you never heard of Winner industries?" Snape, figuring this should be common knowledge, nodded and turned towards the obviously bemused Wufei. Wufei found their awe comical, and didn't really mind showing it. Heero, who Snape was starting to really be creeped out by (amazing considering this was *Snape* we're talking about), was currently messing with some sort of weapon he had pulled out of the back.  
  
"Hello, Rasid[1]." Wufei nodded to the Arabian guy in greeting. "Yes, I think that four rooms near Heero, Duo, and my own rooms will be perfect. Quatre-kun and Trowa-kun have arrived, I presume?"  
  
"Yes, Master Winner has just stepped into the shower. Mister Barton is currently in the gym."  
  
Wufei nodded and then, turning back to the entourage of wizards, spoke.  
  
"You may come in whenever you wish. If Maxwell ever awakens, we will sort all of this out." Wufei scowled then. "Remember this, we will not hesitate to kill you if you are not who you say you are." And with that cheery message, he walked into the manor.  
  
The others, now more positive that he just might carry through with his threat, all swallowed convulsively before Heero's voice drew their attention.  
  
"Can someone get this thing, he's laying on the box of ammunition." Heero didn't even look up from whatever he was doing to his gun, just waved in the general direction of the trunk. A groan came.  
  
"Thing? I'm insulted! This 'thing' has a name." Heero ignored the comment and, reaching into the trunk, he pulled out a red box, most likely the ammunition. An indignant squawk came from the trunk of the car, which, from the four wizards position, they could not see into.  
  
"Itai! I was using that!" Heero raised an eyebrow, then turned and walked away from the jeep and into the house, paying no heed to the group.  
  
"Erm, Potter? I do believe we should be going inside." It had taken them hours to get to where they were, and it was now approaching lunchtime. Turning to his students, Snape told them to take a look around the front yard while he waited for Harry to bring them into the house. Hermione had given him a questioning look, but had walked away with the others anyway.  
  
"Just a second Snape, Perfect Soldier's ammunition caught on the bindings of my bandages and I need to sort it out." Snape sighed and walked around the jeep to the open trunk.  
  
Coming around to help Duo, Snape found him shirtless, struggling with the bandage around his mid-section. Snape let his gaze linger on his scars for a moment. Duo, catching the look, smiled ruefully.  
  
"I spent a few years on the streets. Bound to get in a fight every once and a while." Snape's eyebrows drew together. Reaching forward, he helped Duo unbind the now slightly torn bandages.  
  
"When you said 'five hundred years old,' you were serious, weren't you?"  
  
"Hai," At Snape's blank look he translated. "It means 'yes' in Japanese. I've sort of picked up words from different languages. Even though the Perfect Soldier doesn't say much, he does add in the occasional Japanese word. I sort of picked it up from him." Snape had taken off the original bandage, getting a good look at the damage for the first time. Duo most likely had a hairline fracture, bruising showing up on his lower left side.  
  
"The 'Perfect Soldier' would be Heero, am I correct?" Duo nodded, "You keep strange company Potter." Duo smirked.  
  
"Not much stranger than myself. After all, I'm a five hundred and sixteen year old wizard who has major identity problems. They," Duo nodded in the direction of the large manor, "Think I'm a fifteen year old soldier. And then they," Duo looked over to the three young wizards, "think I'm Harry Potter- a naïve young wizard who just happens to be famous." Duo's face hardened, his lips thinning. "I am not the Harry you once knew. Actually, I'm not sure if there is any of the old Harry in me at all." Duo picked up the bandage new bandage out of the first-aid kit, handing it over to Snape.  
  
"That remains to be seen. You do seem . . . different, but if you're in the middle of this war as you say, their has to be a bit of Potter left in you." Duo chuckled.  
  
"Your humor is one thing I most definitely missed over the years." Snape glanced up.  
  
"Really? I was of the impression that you despised me and my so called jokes."  
  
"Oh, don't get me wrong, I hated you and your idea of a joke. But, I've got a little more perspective on my life since then. And, let's face it, I was too innocent. Didn't know humor when I saw it. I'm not sure if Hermione or Seamus will want to be around me, because if they are expecting a shy, heroic do-gooder, they'll be disappointed. I haven't seen any of you in over five hundred years. You haven't seen me in less than twenty-four hours, from what I'm guessing."  
  
"Yes, it will be rather confusing trying to picture Potter as anything but naïve."  
  
Duo turned rather serious then. "I have killed before. I will continue to kill because it is the only way we may be able to stop this war. I am only telling you this because you were once a Death Eater and later a spy. I'm hoping you understand that I don't enjoy it, but I must do what I have to. Hermione, Seamus, and even Malfoy were sheltered from the war against Voldemort. Voldemort barely let out a peep until the attack in my sixth year. They will have a hard time adjusting to this world, but I am hoping that we will be able to get you back to your own time." Duo paused, glancing down at Snape's bowed head, who was slightly crouched in front of him, fiddling with the bandage.  
  
"I do not wish them to know of everything I have had to do in my life."  
  
Snape looked Duo in the eye. His eyes, darkened to a cobalt blue, were pleading, "I will not mention any of this to them." Finishing up, Snape backed away, letting Duo step down and slip his jacket on, the shirt in his other hand. Taking a calming breath, Duo's whole demeanor changed, taking the hard edge off of his features.  
  
"Well, let's go inside. There's been no one sane to talk to for the past week, what with Justice Boy and the Perfect Soldier around! Well, actually, it could have been worse. I could have been stuck with Trowa and Heero. The silence would have driven me insane!"  
  
Snape, still rather confused as to who some of these people were, followed Duo.  
  
"Hermione, Seamus, Malfoy, come on!" The three turned toward them, then hurried along, falling in step along side them. Hermione came up to stand next to Duo.  
  
"Harry, are you okay?"  
  
"Hai, I'm well, just a bit bruised. The sleep on the way here helped."  
  
Walking into the building, Hermione couldn't help but gasp. It was amazing! And was that- it was! An actual Picasso! Duo, seeing her gaze, smiled.  
  
"Yeah, one of Quatre's sisters decorated this one. From what I've heard, she actually reminds me of you. A real bookworm. Ended up becoming a history major. That piece is practically priceless. Especially considering it is probably around one thousand years old. The louvre, sadly, was destroyed around two hundred years ago, Quatre's great something or another found that painting and kept it in storage of all places! Quatre's sister found it and put it up, recognizing it for what it was."  
  
Sometime during Duo's explanation of the painting, they had arrived at a parlor, large couches littered around surrounded by a few bookcases and a large bay window.  
  
"That is all rather interesting Potter, but where exactly is our Host? You certainly do not own this establishment." Duo found it rather funny, if immature, that Draco was imposing his idea of Harry onto Duo. Then again, neither Malfoy nor any of the others, with the exception of Snape, knew that he was over five-hundred years old and definitely wasn't the boy he had once been.  
  
"Don't make me seriously mad, if you want to live long Malfoy." Duo said in an almost joking matter. Smirking, he bent over the side of the particular armchair he was seated in. A small speaker with many multi colored buttons sat on the table next to him. His brow furrowed, hand hovering over the buttons as if unsure of what to press.  
  
"I think you're looking for the yellow button Duo, for my personal rooms."  
  
"Thanks," the braided boy murmured. Suddenly realizing to whom the voice belonged, Duo looked up. "Quatre!"  
  
In one fluid motion, which must have been painful considering Duo's injuries, Duo was up and had propelled himself across the room. Quatre and Duo exchanged quick man-hugs (you know the kind, hit each other on the back as hard as possible?) before stepping back.  
  
"I do find it kind of disturbing that a pilot of one of the deadliest mobile suits can't remember what button to press on a simple intercom." Quatre's words were softened by the genuine smile on his lips.  
  
"Funny Q. I'll remember that the next time we spar." Quatre winced. Looking down at Duo's midsection, his smile disappeared as he touched the bandage.  
  
"I'm sorry I was unable to get back from our mission on time. If I had, we probably would have been able to send a few of us on reconnaissance first to learn a bit more about the base before breaking in."  
  
Duo turned slightly, addressing the people behind him.  
  
"Oh, man, Quatre loves to blame himself for everything if you let him. Sooner or later, he'll start saying that there's no air in space because he didn't work on it hard enough." Duo turned back to Quatre. "Besides, if we had been given the right information in the first place, the professors would not have even needed three of us to go get the disk."  
  
Quatre didn't seem particularly offended by the jibe. Finally turning towards the wizards who had not even been in his view when he had been in the doorway, Snape noted that Quatre did not seem surprised that they were there.  
  
"Oh yes, before I forget, this is Quatre Winner. He's the owner of this massive slab of cement. If you have problems with the room service, Malfoy, take it up with him." Duo turned and walked back over to the intercom. Draco frowned, but kept his mouth shut.  
  
"Blue is the gym, right?"  
  
"Yes." Duo pressed on the blue button.  
  
"Clown Boy, come up to the first floor parlor. Get Wufei on the way, he might be in his room. Out." For a second static came over the line, then a clear voice answered back, "Okay."  
  
"A man of few words," Duo said rather dryly before looking over the buttons once again. Finally deciding on the green one, he pressed it.  
  
"Heero-kun, come to the first floor parlor." Static. More static. Duo rolled his eyes and pressed the green button again.  
  
"Yuy, I know for a fact that you don't wear earmuffs in the shooting gallery. Stop ignoring me and come up. I'm not explaining anything more than once! Out." Static, than a grunt that sounded suspiciously like 'baka.'  
  
"Hai. Out."  
  
Duo sighed and sat in the overstuffed armchair. It was usually Quatre's chair and it was common courtesy to give the chair at the head of the room to Quatre, but he had a feeling Quatre wouldn't be sitting down. The pilots were suspicious by nature. Duo himself was convinced that Snape, Hermione, Draco, and Seamus were who they said they were, the evidence just added up. In the past, people might have used Polyjuice Potion or even a Glamour spell, but not now. That knowledge or even the ability wasn't even possible now.  
  
"Hello, as Duo has said, I am Quatre Raberba Winner. Would any of you like something to drink?"  
  
The four wizards glanced at each other before Snape, who had been dying for a cup of tea, spoke first.  
  
"Do you have any Earl Gray?" Hermione and Seamus asked for the same.  
  
"Do you have any pumpkin juice?" Draco asked. Quatre's face showed confusion.  
  
"Don't worry Quatre, just get him Earl Gray also." Draco glared at Duo.  
  
"Potter. Don't be a pompous git. I can order for myself, thank you." Duo smiled, unnerving Draco who had been expecting a rather Gryffindorish retort.  
  
"Quatre doesn't have pumpkin juice. It's not something people regularly drink." Draco frowned before nodding towards Quatre who smiled then turned to the side of the door, where he had been standing. A separate intercom was installed, with three buttons. He pressed the first, most likely the kitchen.  
  
"Hello? May we please have four Earl Grays and," Quatre glanced over at Duo, "One coffee, black." Duo smiled.  
  
On the other line, someone replied that someone would be up shortly. Not a few seconds later, another middle-eastern man, this one thin and tall, came in with a tray of their drinks, handing it to Quatre.  
  
Quatre nodded, "Thank you Shaukat, and give my regards to your wife." The man smiled and nodded before walking out of the room. Quatre handed out all of the drinks before taking his place at the open door leading to the hallway just as Heero, Wufei, and a man with long brown bangs and eyes like Harry's walked into the room.  
  
Trowa stood to the side of Quatre as Wufei took his place by the window seat. Heero came over to Duo, standing directly behind him and watching the wizards shift nervously under his gaze.  
  
~'Blocking all exits'~ Duo thought rather humorously. Snape and Hermione, it seemed, were the only ones besides the pilots who realized the strategetic positions in which the four were in, because they both cast nervous glances around the room. Well, Hermione did, Snape just watched it all in an almost clinically interested sort of way.  
  
Severus thought it amazing that these young men were so war hardened. Despite Quatre's good-natured personality, and Potter's dark but none-the- less humorous facade, they were, by definition, soldiers. And damn good ones if this was any indication.  
  
~'Battle formation over tea, how quaint.'~  
  
Duo finally spoke up from his armchair.  
  
"Well, I guess I have some explaining to do."  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
Authors Notes: muwahhhhhhahahah! The cliffhanger that spanned three chapters! Well, never fear, next chapter we will *finally* get stuff answered. Anyways, if you didn't read above, I'm having a little contest.  
  
Oh yes! And there are a few quotes, or at least variations of the quotes, in this chapter. I got the quotes off of [http://www.angelfire.com/gundam/altuniverse/index1.html]. I'm having a sort of contest. If you find all of them, then you get the next chapter sent to you a day before it's posted. Just copy and paste all of the quotes onto an e-mail and send it to [CherryStain@hotmail.com].  
  
Editor's Note 1: Rasid (pronounced rah-SHEED) is the leader of the Maganacs and a servant of Quatre Winner. The spelling of the name comes from the Gundam Wing manga series; story by Hajime Yadate & Yoshiyuki Tomino, art by Koichi Tokita.  
  
  
  
Thanks to those who reviewed:  
  
Demia (Here's more (), ~Mary~ (yeah, ff.net was going wacky for a few days, but it's better now luckily. Sadly, you'll have to wait a bit for their reactions- at least till I get a mobile suit fight into the story, somewhere around chapter seven or eight I think), ~F~ (Hey! Yeah, I'm not so sure about Relena/ 01, because they're just *too* different. And they both feel strongly about opposite things. yes, I was going for SS/Duo, and that is what will happen later on, but not for a while. They've got to sort of get used to each other again (), Rebecca (you'll find out in chapter 5, hehehe. It's not what you'll be expecting though), Enchantress (how was chapter two off? Is their anything I should change about it? e-mail me, I don't mind fixing something- I like feedback), J. Lynn, Brimstone (hehe, yup, I love Duo!), Dru, VMR, Shinegami (::smiles:: my regular reviewer, hehe. Spot on, by the way. The Gundam Pilots can be so predictable sometimes (), Semirhage (hey! Yup, their aren't *nearly* enough gw/hp. Yeah, I'm using a lot of Duo's history and incorporating it, but that wont be told for a while at least.)  
  
One more quick message from the writer: go to:  
  
www.geocities.com/gundamgirl_1321/index.html  
  
The site has *adorable* chibi pictures of the Gundam Wing pilots ( check it out!  
  
  
  
Anyways, Review! 


	6. Revelations

Title: Firefly Tides  
  
Author name: CherryStain  
  
Author email: CherryStain@hotmail.com  
  
Category: Drama/Angst  
  
Rating for this chapter: PG 13  
  
Spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, FB, QTTA, Gundam Wing.  
  
Summary: Harry, forever The-Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Die meets familiar faces after thinking them dead for over Five-Hundred Years. Crossover with Gundam Wing, will have slash, though won't be centered on it. I FINALLY get some stuff explained. (  
  
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Gundam Wing manga series; story by Hajime Yadate & Yoshiyuki Tomino, art by Koichi Tokita.  
  
  
  
Authors Notes: Hehe, I know I'm Evil. This chapter's rather complicated, and it might have to be read twice. Erm, I hope it's clear, I tried to make it as clear as possible but it may still be rather confusing. It's also rather long and took a lot of time, so Review!  
  
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Chapter 5- Revelations  
  
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Duo took a sip of his Black coffee, grimaced then sighed. Organizing his thoughts, he decided on a general overview of who he was exactly.  
  
"Let's see, my real name is Harry Potter. I was born, as some of you know, July thirty-first Nineteen-eighty."  
  
"Duo, don't play games." Wufei had spoken from the window seat.  
  
"Don't interrupt. As I was saying, I was born to wizarding parents- and yes, there are such things as wizards, and magic, and just about anything you can imagine."  
  
The pilots, even Quatre, looked as if they were questioning his sanity, or at the very least, thought it was one of his jokes. Duo looked back, trying to convey as much honesty into his eyes as possible. Finally Heero, realizing that Duo really did expect them to believe this, spoke up first.  
  
"I want proof Duo." Though Heero's voice sounded emotionless, his eyes showed his warning.  
  
Duo bit his lip thoughtfully before turning to Snape. Duo was pretty sure that a few little spells wouldn't set off to many alarms, and that hopefully *they* wouldn't investigate. [1].  
  
"Your wand may not be nearly as compatible, but it will do." He held out his hand. Snape reached into his robe pocket, pulling out a long cherry wood colored stick.  
  
"Now, I'll have to do something small, my magic output is monitored, something else I'll have to explain to you." Duo thought for a moment, before turning towards the fireplace.  
  
"It's a bit warm in here but- Incendio!"  
  
A wisp of fire flew out of the end of the wand, lighting the wood in the grate. The four pilots, even Heero and Trowa, stepped back, surprised. Duo, wanting to make them sure absolutely sure that magic was real, froze the flames with a quick spell. Even if the other pilots reasoned out that Snape's wand might have been a lighter, a frozen flame was something just not possible without magic.  
  
"You were serious!" Wufei came closer to the fireplace.  
  
"No, I'm Duo." Hermione stifled a laugh, the two wizards in training and the four pilots giving her strange looks, as they didn't understand the pun.  
  
"Funny Potter. I guess after five-hundred years, you are bound to over-use old jokes." Snape took his wand irritably out of Duo's outstretched hand.  
  
"And why did you have to use my wand?"  
  
"That, I'll be getting to. Okay, let me shorten this a bit for the non- magical people here."  
  
"All four of them can do magic?" Quatre had joined the conversation, coming more into the room.  
  
"Yes, they're all Wizards from the past. I'm guessing they got here via time travel. And you're a Wizard too Quatre." Quatre looked at him in surprise.  
  
"You call it your uchuu no kokoro [2]. It is the remnants of the power that was taken from you." He raised a hand, indicating for everyone to stay silent. "Again, I'm getting ahead of myself."  
  
"Okay, back then, when I was born, there was a Wizarding war going on. Voldemort," Seamus and Draco flinched, "was at the head of this war. He's basically what Oz is to us," Duo indicated towards the pilots, "combined with Hitler- cleanse the nation and all that. He wanted to take over everything. For some reason, he decided to go after my parents and I. My parents were killed, but somehow, he wasn't able to kill me. No one knows why the spell, called the Killing Curse, absorbed and then reflected off of me and hit Voldemort, turning him into nothing more than a Phantom. This is common knowledge to the Wizarding community. What no one knew was that it *had* affected me. You see, the killing curse affects people on an anatomical level, changing it so that the soul is no longer bound to the body. Most Wizards don't know this, but when certain... anatomically changing weapons are absorbed than reflected, it changes them."  
  
"Changes them?" Hermione was practically falling out of her chair she was leaning so far forward.  
  
"Yes, it is more widely known in Japanese Wizarding communities because of the Atom bomb. The wizards who were not killed by the Atom bomb in Hiroshima were changed. They could absorb power from magical creatures around them, but it did not stay within their body. I am not sure were it is released when someone is not around to collect the power [3]. Very little of their own magical ability is kept within their body. Because the first Siphons could not control when or what they pulled magic out of and released, they were shunned from the general wizarding community. The Knowledge of the Siphons was not spread because of their virtual exile. The British community never even thought that the Killing Curse might have affected me. Because the Killing Curse is not even close to the magnitude of the Atom Bomb, my siphoning abilities are nowhere near that of class-A Siphons. Luckily, however, my own magical ability remained intact. However, my siphoning abilities were enough, along with the power behind my scar- my connection to Voldemort, for me to have visions of Voldemort, or at least, pull what he was viewing from his own mind- dreams that were evidently true."  
  
"Siphons?" Snape asked.  
  
"It is what they call wizards who draw magic out of others."  
  
"Scar?" Heero, who had still not moved from behind Duo, leaned forward.  
  
"It is hidden by my magic. Before my magic was monitored, which Siphons have now learned to do, I used a particularly difficult spell to change my eyes and hair color, though the length is real. Come out in front of me, I feel like an idiot with you hovering behind me." Heero obliged, walking around and sitting next to Snape on the couch directly across from Duo.  
  
Snape spoke up again, leaning forward and trying to see under Duo's fringe. "But Potter, Your scar cannot be hidden by magic, Dumbledore tried it when you were a child."  
  
"It's just a normal scar now. Voldemort is long gone and I am no longer a grade B siphon."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"This is where sixth year comes in and why I am still here five hundred years later." Duo took a breath, taking a sip of his now luke-warm Coffee. The four wizards held their breaths, nervous about what was to be in store for them if they were to ever get back to their own time. Duo, seeing their look, sighed, sadness in his eyes.  
  
"You do understand that you lot will most likely not travel back to your own time, and even if you did, I would definitely have to memory-charm you."  
  
"Potter, we *must* get back to our own time. Whatever happened after we time-traveled here, a lot of people probably *died.* We'll be able to save them!" Snape's voice rose at the end. He had too much regret now, being an ex-Death Eater, he couldn't add more to it!  
  
Duo looked as if he were fighting to keep a strait face, gripping the armrests till his knuckles shown white.  
  
Hermione, understanding why Harry could not let them change the past, spoke to Snape. "You don't understand Professor, changing the past simply should *not* be done. How are we to know if the other future is not worse than this one? For all we know, changing the past could *guarantee* You-Know- Who's place of power."  
  
Snape sighed, but kept silent, knowing that they were right. Also, the fact that Potter's face was showing just how sad he was about it also, kept Snape from further aggravating Harry.  
  
Taking a second to collect himself and taking another mouthful of coffee, Duo continued. "Voldemort, as you are aware Snape, was planning something huge. Sadly, you were not privy to this information because of you're placement in Voldemort's circle." Draco's eyes bulged.  
  
"Oh yes, and Malfoy? Don't even try crossing any of us or I will kill you myself." Malfoy stiffened but retorted anyway, for it was not in his personality to back down.  
  
"Yes Potter, with what? As you have said, your magic is monitored."  
  
Duo could make light of the fact that Draco thought he was still Naïve- Harry-Potter, but he would not stand by while Draco was threatening someone who was working to save people's lives and endangering his own in the process. Before Draco could even blink, Duo had his gun out, pointed level with Draco's head. "Magic isn't the only way to kill Draco, surely you know this. Don't even try reaching for your wand. You'll be dead before you so much as flex your fingers. You aren't stupid enough to tempt me, I hope?"  
  
"You wouldn't dare Potter. Your too much of a Gryffindor to kill me." Wufei snorted, and most would too if they had ever seen Duo in a fight.  
  
Duo glanced at Snape, then at Hermione and Seamus. "Believe what you want Malfoy, just remember that I do not tolerate *any* leaks." Duo put his gun back into the waistband of his jeans.  
  
Duo went back to his narrative. "As I was saying, in my sixth year of schooling at Hogwarts, which is a wizarding school for those of you who do not know, the school was attacked. And by something you just would not expect from a Wizard, let alone Voldemort. No one ever expected Voldemort, the man who hated muggles-- non-magical people-- and muggle-borns enough to kill them, to use muggle weapons. He may have been rather insane, but he was smart- I'll give him that. He knew that a muggle weapon would *definitely* take the wizarding world by surprise. From what I can gather, he kidnapped and used the Imperious spell- a spell that controls the recipient- on a muggle who had clearance in the military to go wherever he pleased. High-ranking officer in the American Army from what I later found out."  
  
"That's what the huge explosion was! A bomb!" Hermione's voice went shrill.  
  
"Yes, he used the muggle American officer to teach some of the high-ranking Death eaters, followers of Voldemort, how to fly and drop bombs. Having the same distaste for muggle items as Voldemort, they were quite incompetent at what they were taught. They missed most of their targets, but they had enough ammunition to eventually get it right. The explosion we experienced was only the first of about three bombs that hit near and around Hogwarts. We were in Potions class when it happened, and as I never saw the four of you leave, I assumed you were dead."  
  
Duo turned towards the wizards and, locking eyes with Hermione, tried to convey into that one look how much he had mourned for her. Hermione had been a great friend to Duo, and he had definitely missed her over the years.  
  
Hermione dearly wanted to ask about Ron, but kept silent, not wanting sadden Harry anymore. Considering it was five hundred years into the future, Ron was long gone, and she didn't want to remind him of it. Hermione herself, wanted to cry. The Hogwarts Trio was now only two- one of which would most likely never be the same Harry she had befriended.  
  
Draco was grinding his jaw, trying not to yell at Potter. It couldn't be true! His father knew he was at Hogwarts, and his father was in Voldemort's inner circle! He would have warned his son about such an attack . . . but he had experienced the first explosion, and he did not know of any magical attacks that could shake Hogwarts so completely. Especially since the school was guarded against direct magical attacks. He knew this from snippets of conversation he heard at home. But had Hogwarts had protection from muggle weapons? He did not know . . .  
  
"Anyways, the students and teachers left, gathered in the great hall. I was assigned all of the first years to bring into the Forbidden Forrest, because it was the only place we could think of to hide away in. Hogsmeade- the closest town- was destroyed. The headmaster was nowhere to be found and he was the only one who knew how to activate the floo network. So, I headed out with Professor Sinistra, Ron, who had escaped the crumbling dungeons with me, and around thirty-five eleven year olds."  
  
"The Forbidden Forest!?" Seamus exclaimed, eyes widening.  
  
"Yes, it was perhaps the only choice we had. We went into the forest. It was like night had fallen, it was sunny outside of the forest, but the dense foliage blocked out all light. Of course, we were attacked."  
  
"By what?"  
  
"A vampire of all things." Wufei wanted to scoff, but considering Duo had just used a *wand* of all things to light a fire, he might believe anything.  
  
"The vampire, a young one compared to some, went for the smaller children. I tackled it and so it aimed for me instead. It had just bitten into my neck before another explosion, greater than all the others combined, sounded."  
  
There was a moment of silence, before Hermione, remembering the earlier part of the conversation and putting two and two together, broke in, "You not seriously saying-"  
  
"Yes, Voldemort had gotten hold of an Atomic Bomb." Hermione gasped, Seamus and Draco cursed, the others remained silent but shock was apparent in their expressions.  
  
"He left it to Malfoy Senior to drop it." Draco's eyes widened and he spluttered, the pilots all turning towards him.  
  
"He messed up of course, and missed his target by a mile. But the effects of the bomb still spread all the way to where we were. The Atomic blast sped through the Hogwarts grounds and the Forest. Some died, others became Siphons. I became something totally different."  
  
"My God . . ."  
  
"Atomic energy does strange things to a person's magical energy. Because I was already a grade B siphon, though I did not know it, it changed me further. I have a virtual well of magic inside of me. Siphons, the ones who have no control over how much magical energy they take, dump that magic into me when I am even as close to a mile to one."  
  
Everyone just stared, Snape speaking up after a moment, "That doesn't explain why you're still alive after all of these years." Duo smiled.  
  
"Ever the observant one, Professor. Like I've said before, atomic energy does strange things to magic. When the atomic blast washed over me, the vampire had just bitten me, creating a magical connection not unlike the connection between two casting a spell on one another. The blast and my own semi-siphoning abilities went into hyper drive. It is something that can only happen in the split second when atoms are being rearranged by the blast. When I was little, I was able to siphon part of Voldemort's ability to talk to snakes- Parseltongue."  
  
Understanding, and with that, shock, crossed Hermione's face, "You siphoned the Vampire's Immortality!"  
  
Duo nodded grimly. "Just the vampire's Immortality, none of his other abilities and weaknesses. Unlike when I was a child, I knew instantly. I don't know how I knew. But then, I was in too much pain to really think about it." Duo elaborated at their blank looks, "I was surrounded by Siphons and I wasn't used to the power input. Plus, we were in the middle of the Forbidden Forest and the magical energy was astronomical. I passed out and woke up a week later in a makeshift hospital that the newly evolved Siphons had set up. The pain from the input was still there, but it was manageable because my body had somewhat adapted, at least enough for me to remain conscious. Dumbledore was in the bed next to me. It is a sad thing to outlive the man you thought would always be there, but he died two hours later."  
  
Hermione sniffed, wet tracks appearing were tears had fallen. Snape, Seamus, and Draco looked like the ground had been pulled out from under them. Dumbledore was one constant in all of the wizard's and witches' lives, and finding out that Dumbledore had died in the attack was a rather mind-boggling thought.  
  
The four other pilots remained silent, Quatre coming forward to put a comforting arm on Duo's shoulder.  
  
"Voldemort made a terrible, *terrible* mistake. He sent out countless bombs to regular wizarding communities, and two more atom bombs to Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. If he couldn't take control of the Wizarding world, he was going to terrify them as much as possible- killing thousands in the process. It was his downfall. Later that month, I and dozens of Siphons from all three schools drained and then killed Voldemort and his followers."  
  
"I later left, sort of exiled myself, and let the Siphon community learn on its own how to function. Being around Siphons was too painful and, with no other option, I went into seclusion in America. I came out of seclusion not forty years ago. Sometime during my exile, I stopped using a wand. I just didn't see any use. Curiosity, however, got the better of me."  
  
Duo's audience knew he was deliberately skipping over things, but left it for now. "I tried seeking out the wizarding community, wanting to see how it had changed. I never found one. Wizards everywhere were gone. I ran into a Siphon purely by accident. He knew instantly that I had magic, but it was different. He could not access it though, alarming him, so he approached me. After a rather painful fistfight," Duo smiled wryly, "He told me what had happened. Siphons had learned, over more than a dozen generations, how to control who they Siphoned from. Really strong Siphons, from what I have learned, do not have much magic for themselves. Wizards were a threat to their existence. The Wizarding community had withered. Few were left, and the few that were became power hungry. Around two hundred or so years after I had exiled myself, another, crueler group of Witches and Wizards tried killing off Siphons, jealous that their community was thriving while Wizards had no actual government system left, having to hide out in the Muggle world. After I don't know how many deaths, Siphons finally had the choice of either killing off all witches and wizards left, or siphoning all of their magic away. They chose the latter, and ever since then, Wizards and Witches have had their power drained as children." Duo smiled at the wide-eyed looks of his old professor and classmates.  
  
"That is what happened to me, isn't it?" Duo turned to look up at Quatre who had been standing next to him.  
  
"Yes, the Siphon community now has monitors for magical activity. They sensed you after you were made. They took all of your magic."  
  
At the questioning looks directed at Duo at the word 'made' from the Wizards, Quatre elaborated. "I was made in a test tube." Quatre's tone was bitter, very rare for the naturally good-natured Arab. Duo sent a sympathetic look over to Quatre, who knew that he was rather touchy on the subject of how he was made.  
  
Hermione and Seamus nodded, amazed at the technology of the future.  
  
"Test tube?" Snape had voiced the thought running through the three pureblooded wizards.  
  
"It's when muggles *make* children outside of the womb. It's more complicated than that, but I'll forever be explaining all the muggle- terms."  
  
Quatre remained thoughtful for a moment before voicing what he had been pondering, "But why can I sometimes . . . sense things?" Duo smiled at Quatre.  
  
"You've got a talent most Wizards don't have. You were born a Seer- someone who has visions, really rare. It's something Siphons can't take away from you, only minimize. It's why you only get the general feelings-empathy, instead of full blown visions." Duo turned back to the rest of the people in the room.  
  
"The Siphon community felt threatened by me. They could not Siphon my powers because, basically, I am just an overdeveloped Siphon and they can't take power from their own kind. Furthermore, I gained power just by being in their presence. They gave me an ultimatum; they would monitor my magic, if I ever went above a certain level, they would investigate. If they found that I was abusing my power, they'd find some way of torturing me. Immortality would *definitely* not work in my favor. I can still feel pain, just as much as any of you can, and I heal just as all of you, but I would not be able to die. It would be my own personal hell. And with the technology now, they could easily do it. It wasn't much of a choice for me, I had practically already stopped using magic, and so I handed over my wand. And, well, here I am now."  
  
Silence followed his rather long explanation. Finally, when the silence went from dealing with ones thoughts to uncomfortable, Snape spoke up.  
  
"Before the attack, Dumbledore gave me a strange apparatus." Snape pulled the gold broken three-meter chain out of his shirt. "He told me that if Hogwarts were to ever need help, I should take a small group along with me and use the necklace. When the attack came, I had a feeling that Dumbledore had given me the necklace to use for that exact attack. So, I threw the necklace over myself and whatever students had been near me at the time. The smoke and dust had prevented me from seeing exactly who I was taking." Snape stopped talking, mulling over what he had said. "Another thing I thought was rather strange was that he said it was a Portkey, but it wasn't. He wanted to make it clear to me that the Portkey would bring me to where I originally was."  
  
Duo cleared his throat, "Yes. The base we were at was in the location that originally housed Hogwarts. It was rather depressing seeing the wizarding's finest in education reduced to a hole in the ground. The last of the bombs dropped, after the atomic bomb nearby, had gone strait through any defenses Hogwarts ever had, blasting the building and the ground underneath it to nothing. Many newly made Siphons got out, but many more died."  
  
"Yes, that explains why we ended up on the top of that- what did you call it?- that base instead of the dungeons. After five hundred years, the ground level must have dropped."  
  
Snape sat for a moment, absently taking a sip of his cold tea, sad that Hogwarts was truly gone in this time period. After it was clear that no one else had anything to add, Duo started to get up, but winced, halfway out of the chair. Quatre helped him up. Snape, snapping out of his thoughts, stood and walked over to Duo.  
  
"Here, I have something that may help with that rib." Snape reached into his robe pocket, pulling out a small glass phial.  
  
"I have a little left." Duo accepted it gratefully, knocking back half the phial while the four pilots watched in varying degrees of interest. Duo shivered, then smiled at Snape. Snape lip twitched in return, to his surprise.  
  
"That's one thing I *definitely* miss- instant healing. Potions was banned years ago, you're probably the only Potions Master in existence that isn't a Siphon." Duo stood for a moment, and then turned towards Heero. "Take the rest, you'll be a hindrance with that arm," Duo nodded to his broken and binded arm. Heero took it warily; giving a shrug (more of a slight shift in his shoulder) only noticed by those who knew him well, he drank the rest of what was in the phial. He did not shiver, but he did start to unbind his arm, putting the bandages in the waste bin next to the couch. He stood up, flexing his newly mended arm.  
  
"We've got to finish that report Heero. Grab your laptop and we'll finish it up in Quatre's office."  
  
"Hai." Heero started for the door, but Duo put his arm out to stop him, looking over at Snape.  
  
"I know we're really not supposed to be doing any heavy activity, but if I don't spar I'll never work off this nervous energy."  
  
"Spar?"  
  
"Yeah, you know; karate, tae kwon do, fencing, a good ol' right hook? Fighting!"  
  
Snape gave a dry chuckle. "Just don't hit it directly and it will be fine. Keeping you in the infirmary was just Madame Pomfrey's way of trying to keep the lot of you out of harm's way for as long as possible."  
  
Duo smiled, then nodded towards Heero, "After the report, you with me?"  
  
Heero gave a sharp nod, before walking out.  
  
"Well, I've got a report to finish, Quatre," Duo turned towards him, "can you take them up to their rooms? I'm pretty sure they're tired after all that has happened."  
  
Quatre smiled, "Of course. They'll also need some clothing and other necessities. I'll take them on a tour of the building later on too, if they'd like." Duo nodded, turning to the other occupants of the room.  
  
Wufei walked away from the window seat, were he had been standing. "Well, if you don't need me for the report then-"  
  
"Hai, Wufei, go play with your katana, I'll see you in the gym later." Wufei walked out of the room, followed by Trowa. They both glanced at the quartet of wizards before leaving, but said nothing.  
  
"Okay, um, I'll see you guys in a bit, I've got some work to finish. Stop by the Gym later on, I'll be in there and we can talk." Duo smiled before walking out of the room, his braid swinging gently behind him.  
  
Quatre turned towards the ensemble of Wizards and Witches. "Well, follow me, I'll show you to your rooms." And with that, the room was empty.  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~ A.N. I've decided to add these short glimpses into Hogwarts before the sixth year 'attack' ~~~~~~~~~~  
  
March 12th, 1996  
  
  
  
  
  
"Parvarti and Trelawney are driving me insane."  
  
Harry, Hermione, and Ron had just passed Parvarti, Lavender, and a few 5th year Gryffindor girls on their way down to dinner, all of whom had been staring as they passed by. They had gone to Gryffindor tower to drop off their books after Divination, Hermione meeting them after Arithmancy in the common room.  
  
Harry glanced back at Parvarti and her friends again, scowling. They just looked at him with pity. Trelawney hadn't predicted his death in a while, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione had started to think that she was *finally* laying off. They were wrong of course. In Divination today, Trelawney had put on a particularly spectacular show, one of her best, Seamus had joked. Harry had punched him in the arm he had bruised during Quidditch morning practice.  
  
They'd been working on Tarot Cards, and Trelawney had been ignoring most of the class in favor of Parvarti's deck, when suddenly she glanced up, looking right over Harry's shoulder. Her eyes, already considerably large because of her glasses, widened till they threatened to become larger than the bloody spectacle lenses. She dramatically put one arm over her heart, the other pointing over Harry's shoulder. She'd screamed, "The Spectre of Death is waiting for you!" and promptly fainted, conveniently on top of a purple beanbag instead of the floor. Parvarti, with the help of Lavender, had helped *rouse* the overgrown coat rack, sending the students away as it was already nearing the end of class. Of course, Parvarti and Lavender had told their 5th year friends, and they had all been whispering and giving pitying looks as Harry and his friends passed by.  
  
"Well, I told you to stop taking that class, you know it will never help you in the future anyways." Ron rolled his eyes at Hermione's pun.  
  
"Well, it's not bloody likely that we would take *Arithmancy,* and besides, Divination is an easy A."  
  
Hermione sighed, knowing Ron wouldn't listen. As they walked into the Great hall, Harry accidentally bumped into one of the visiting students from Beauxbatons. About a fortnight ago, a group of around ten students from the French Wizarding School had sent over a few sixth year students to better the relations between countries. After the Triwizard Tournament, relations between Beauxbatons and Hogwarts had been growing in strength. Shortly after they had arrived, eight Hogwarts students from various houses in the seventh year had been sent off to Beauxbatons, a Lingual Charm [4] placed on them.  
  
The French student Harry had just bumped into stumbled as their shoulders collided. Harry reached over and steadied him. The student glanced at him before doing a double take. Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes as the French boy's dark eyes looked at his face in recognition. Ron and Hermione, who had stopped to wait for him, stood to the side. The French boy reached out a hand, offering a handshake.  
  
"Bonjour, my name is Jean-Paul. You are Harry Potter?" Harry had a bit of trouble deciphering what he had said because of his strong accent.  
  
"Yes, my name is Harry, and, erm, this is Ron and Hermione, my friends." Harry waved an arm in their direction. Harry was pleasantly surprised to see that Jean-Paul seemed just as excited to meet them. Harry didn't really like all of the attention he got for being who he was, and it was refreshing to see someone seem just as interested in his friends as they were in him.  
  
"Ello, 'Ermione and Ron. It is a pleasure to meet both of you."  
  
Hermione blushed; the French boy was rather cute. Ron scowled at Jean. Ron and Hermione had tried dating at the beginning of sixth year, but it hadn't lasted. They were just *too* close of friends, knew too much about each other. They'd decided to stay friends, but that didn't mean that Ron still wasn't overly protective of Hermione. Jean, catching the look, laughed.  
  
"I am sorry, I am . uh . . . how do you say . . . gay?" Ron visibly relaxed, and Hermione blushed even brighter. Last year, Harry had been surprised after Terry Boot, a Ravenclaw from his year, had openly kissed a Hufflepuff Boy in the Great Hall, visible to everybody. No one had even batted an eyelash. Later, Harry had asked Ron about it, and Ron had been surprised that Muggles would be so set against it. Wizards just didn't care what gender you were attracted to.  
  
Ron scratched the back of his neck, looking sheepish. Hermione smiled at Ron, "Sorry Jean, Ron's a bit protective of his friends." Harry noted that Jean looked as if he almost understood. Jean-Paul smiled at them before turning as a voice called to him from the further into the Great Hall.  
  
Jean rolled his eyes. "Pascal is obsessed with timeliness. I am late for a minute and he is already steaming from the ears." Ron, Harry and Hermione laughed, waving him off as he walked to the end of the Gryffindor table where the other French students had decided to eat their meals.  
  
"You know, he's not a bad guy. When the lot of them came, I thought they'd be . . . I don't know, distant. Kind of like Fleur."  
  
They took their seats at the other end of the table next to the other 6th year Gryffindors. Ron, who had just been speaking, took a large gulp of pumpkin juice. Hermione smiled, she had always thought of Fleur as cold, it was nice hearing Ron admit it.  
  
"Anyways, have you seen the house points? Snape took off *thirty* points from Neville yesterday during his detention added to the ten taken during class!" Ron started waving his arms around in the air to emphasize his point, almost wacking off Harry's glasses. After adjusting his glasses, Harry glanced over at Snape who was scowling and absently twirling a long golden chain in his hand.  
  
~'Weird, never thought of him as the jewelry wearing type . . .'~  
  
"He took points off during his detention?" Hermione asked disbelievingly. Neville had just walked into the room, looking as if he'd rather be eating in his dorm. After glancing up at Neville, Harry answered Hermione.  
  
"Yeah, Neville told me that during his detention he bumped into one of the shelves, sending the whole thing- potions ingredients and all- onto the floor. In addition to the points, Neville has to pay for the ingredients he broke. Seamus and Dean have bets on when his Grandmother will send a Howler."  
  
Hermione scowled. "That's not nice! How would they like it if they were sent a Howler?" Harry grimaced at Hermione's shrill tone, putting his arms out in front of him, were Hermione was seated.  
  
"Hey, it wasn't me, and Seamus and Dean have too many bets now to back down." Hermione rolled her eyes; taking an apple from the basket that had just appeared before continuing onto other subjects.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Authors Notes: Yay! My story's taking shape! I messed with the wizarding world quite a bit, but considering it's been five hundred years, and major things have happened in that time span, no wonder it has changed.  
  
[1] *they* being the Siphons- as the chapter later explains  
  
[2] Quatre has this sort of . . . sixth sense about things. When major things happen, he usually feels pain in his chest, though I don't know if it's also in the Manga or if it's just from fan fiction.  
  
Editor's Note: It is in the manga, as in the original televised series. The English translation is "Space Heart" while the Japanese version is "uchuu no kokoro".  
  
[3] As the chapter later explains, Duo somehow collects this power without choosing to.  
  
[4] hehe, making up my own spells. I think . . . o well, I'll look it up on Lexicon and see if it exists ( it'll be important later.  
  
  
  
  
  
Thanks to all who Reviewed!  
  
Brimstone (hehe, I've been none to rant for long periods of time. well, I have the chapter out finally (), Mary (yes, Duo's name definetly kicks ass ::smile:: I still haven't gotten eveyrones reactions. Because there are so many characters, I'm going to include a little of each person to make their personality more 3-D.), The Kuro no Tenshi (yup! You can borrow it, just change the plot ( I wanna have a good Gundam wing. Hp story to read too, their aren't nearly enough!), Otaku Freak, Lunarbard (haha, considering there are only about 6 gw/hp fics out there, I'd say any story with this crossover is unique. Thanks for the compliment though!), J. Lynn (yeah, it was all messed up, but its fixed now if you want to reread the end. ::smiles:: no more cliffies on this subject), Kashi (hehe), Whitehorn (I know, I love toruturing my readers (), Demia (ah, but you forget, my dear Demia, these are the Gundam Wing pilots we're talking about. Brilliant people. I'm closed lip on this subject, you'll find out what happens when the time comes (), Dark Hikari Kamiya (nope, none yet! Sorry (, but the chapters might be coming out a bit slower now, because school is about to start. After the Fifth, I'll probably have a chapter out a week. Sorry guys ::pouts::), ~F~ (waraxe? Hehee, I know, like I've said, I'm evil ::grins evilly::), Shinegami (nope, not normal or in the least bit sane, hehe. Not so sure about nicknames, probably 'professor-stick-up-his-arse and 'the- amazing-albino-ferret, haven't decided yet), Usa Yui Usa Kou (You're a Heero/usa and Usa/starlights fan I'm guessing? Hehe, yeah, writing my own gw story had gotten me back into reading gw, I haven't read one in a while. Oh yeah! And you gave me a great idea, I'll make a mailing list for whoever wants updates on when I post ()  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
::coughes loudly:: Ahem! Whoever would like to get e-mails telling them when I post, Put in CAPITAL letters- I LINE MY POCKETS WITH HOT CHEESE- and your e mail and I'll send you a notice :0)  
  
Review! 


	7. Hit Me With Your Best Shot!

Title: Firefly Tides  
  
Author name: CherryStain  
  
Author email: CherryStain@hotmail.com  
  
Category: Drama/Angst  
  
Rating for this chapter: PG 13  
  
Spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, FB, QTTA, Gundam Wing.  
  
Summary: Harry, forever The-Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Die meets familiar faces after thinking them dead for over Five-Hundred Years. Crossover with Gundam Wing, will have slash, though won't be centered on it.  
  
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Gundam Wing manga series; story by Hajime Yadate & Yoshiyuki Tomino, art by Koichi Tokita.  
  
  
  
Authors Notes: Next chapter! Hm . . . well, chapters are going to be coming out once a week I think after chapter seven. ::pouts:: yes, I know, but school's starting soon. Oh yes, and if you were wondering, no, this story isn't a Duo/Quatre story, they're good friends (considering they're the only two of the group who *actually* talk) but they wont be getting together in this story. Anyways, read and Review!  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter Six- Hit Me With Your Best Shot!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Shit."  
  
"That's an understatement, baka."  
  
Heero and Duo were currently in Quatre's third floor office. The desk, a deep mahogany, was littered with used eraser bits, printouts, and other odds and ends. Heero had inserted the disk, looking at the files with Duo hovering over his shoulder.  
  
When Duo had walked into the room, he'd sort of been expecting a verbal assault. He'd been disappointed, at least expecting Heero to be *somewhat* shocked at learning all that he had about Duo, or rather Harry. After God knows how many tries at getting a reaction out of Heero, he thought this would be it. But, like Duo himself, Heero quickly adapted and probably wouldn't have batted an eyelash if Duo had taken his wand out (not that he had it with him) and turned the computer into a hippo. Which he was very tempted to try, even without his wand. At least a hippo wouldn't show what was on the fucking disk. Bloody Oz!  
  
"If they are as far along with the research shown here, we're in serious shit."  
  
"I think you've said that, Duo."  
  
"This is so big that I *had* to say it twice." They'd taken a while longer hacking into the file codes mostly because Duo just hadn't been in the *mood* to hack into the disk, and had been trying to cajole Heero into waiting till later, after a match. Now Duo was glad that he had stayed around instead of heading downstairs himself.  
  
"I can't believe they're so far in their research," Duo paused. "Shit." Heero stifled a sigh, rolling his eyes heavenward, not even deigning to comment.  
  
"Mobile Dolls in the hands of the enemy . . ." Duo hesitated, frowning at the thought. With mobile suits, their was the disadvantage of knowing you had killed a living breathing person, but at the same time, the soldier, who *couldn't* afford to think of the enemy as a person, in Duo knew that at least ridding the other side of soldiers would do damage. Oz couldn't make people. Mobile Dolls on the other hand . . . they could just keep coming and coming. It was disconcerting to know that the enemy might now have enough knowledge to make Mobile Dolls, something that could severely tip the war in Oz's favor.  
  
"Spar?" The one word question came from Heero, who obviously wanted to work some energy off. One thing Duo had needed to know when becoming Heero's partner was learning Heero-speak. In one word, Heero had conveyed two thoughts. One was that he wanted to spar, obviously. The second was harder to find, and could only be deciphered in Heero's tense posture. Most people saw Heero as always in a tense posture, but that wasn't true. Most of the time, he was just at-ready. Ready for an attack, for action, for surveillance. By Heero's slight change in posture, Duo was positive that Heero was tense when he had asked the question.  
  
It showed that the Perfect Soldier thought of the Mobile Dolls as a real threat. They weren't nearly as powerful as the Gundams, but what they lacked in strength, they could make up for in sheer numbers. After all, even with all of their training, the pilots were still human. They had their limitations.  
  
Duo nodded, not yet ready to think of a witty retort. They sent the e-mail they'd written to the professors before opening the disk, sending the information stored on the disk through the e-mail.  
  
They'd had an argument earlier about the four wizards who'd arrived during the mission. Heero, of course, thought they should tell the professors everything. Duo, who *definitely* didn't want the four to be some sort of lab experiment for the slightly mad group of professors, thought that they should stay quiet about it. Finally, they conceded that they would tell about the four time-travelers, but wouldn't say anything about magic, time traveling, or anything of the sort. Duo told Heero that it was his business to tell, his past, and he didn't want it dissected by someone else.  
  
Making sure that the message was password protected and virtually un- traceable, they collected the printouts they had managed to hackle out of the Disk also. The printout was an earlier model of a Mobile Suit prototype that had failed. Most would have seen it as useless information, but both Duo and Heero reasoned that at least they had a vague idea of what they were dealing with. They could find weaknesses and exploit them, should they cross a Mobile Doll in the future.  
  
They trekked down to the second floor were the bedrooms and the entrance to the gym was located. Walking into the changing room, they both turned towards lockers that had been installed for them. As Duo was opening the lock, Heero thoughtfully turned around, regarding Duo.  
  
"What? You're not going to watch me change, are you? Because I may swing both ways but-" Heero glared.  
  
"Right, okay, so what is it?" Heero looked at him again, as if he were sizing him up.  
  
"You don't believe that your friends will ever make it back to their time, do you?" Duo leaned against his closed locker, folding his arms.  
  
"Why do you say that? I told them I'd try to find a way, didn't I?"  
  
"You're not an idiot, Duo. You may be a bit dense, but you're smart. You would not have told them the future if you really believed that they would ever make it back." Duo sighed, scratching the back of his head.  
  
"You got me there. I can never get something past you, eh?"  
  
"I'm your partner. I make it my job to understand your actions." Duo flopped down onto the ground, looking up at Heero with a chuckle.  
  
"Everything for the mission. Yeah, I don't think they'll get back." Heero leaned back, waiting for him to elaborate.  
  
"I know they left back in 6th year, but they never came back. I've experienced time travel. They would have pretzel-ed right back to our past if they had made it back. This is the first time I've seen them since my sixth year. And time travel . . . it's tricky business. It's just a known *fact* that you don't mess with it as little as possible."  
  
Heero nodded, turning back to his locker. Duo pulled himself up, opened his locker, and pulled on a pair of loose gray sweats, a black tee shirt, and rubber-soled sneakers, as the floor was covered in mats. Duo rummaged at the bottom of his locker, looking for the fingerless gloves he usually wore. Heero, who was dressed similarly, sighed, coming over to Duo's side and pulling it out of the top shelf, above Duo's head but just within Heero's view. Duo scowled, he hated being the shortest of the group, just above five feet, five inches. Duo pulled on his gloves as they walked through the locker room, past the showers, and towards the double doors leading to the large gym.  
  
"So, just a good old fashion fight?"  
  
Heero nodded as they walked into the gym proper. The sun outside the large windows was just touching the horizon; washing the room in yellows, oranges, and reds. They both looked over at Wufei, who was sitting on the matted floor off in one corner examining his katana. Trowa was most likely in the floor below, where the shooting gallery was located.  
  
In the center of the room, a large circle was drawn. They stood at opposite ends and looked at each other, Duo with a grin and Heero with . . . well, a look. They bent over at the waist, eyes locked. They stood again and got into a ready stance, circling each other on the mat.  
  
Duo bided his time; it was so much better waiting for Heero to start. The matches between them were usually pretty great. They knew each other's moves pretty well, and when they fought, it was hard for one to come out the victor.  
  
Finally, Heero lunged first, throwing a fist out. Duo ducked, and laughing, spun into a kick that sailed over Heero's head.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
  
Snape couldn't help but love the room he had been given for his stay. The floors were a dark oak, complimenting perfectly with the large bed frame. He wondered silently if Potter had picked this room for him, because everything was done in dark green and silver, Slytherin colors.  
  
He'd been given black slacks and a gray button up by one of the people working in the large house. They'd been borrowed from someone in the household, and they fit comfortably. After a shower, he changed and brushed out his hair, tying it back with a black hair band he'd found in the dresser. Being a potions master, a true one, his hair had always been oily. He could take a dozen showers in the morning but by mid-afternoon, after a dozen classes and a dozen more potions, his hair was usually as lank as ever.  
  
Because he was far from any cauldron, and consequently, wouldn't be bending over any fuming potions, some of the film that usually coated his hair had been removed. Just as he was tying on the boots he had been wearing earlier, Draco and Quatre showed up at the door. Draco had been fitted into clothes in tones of dark and light green. The muggle shirt was obviously uncomfortable for him, as he kept tugging at the neckline of the high collared shirt.  
  
Draco looked around at the décor. "My room's all in shades of blue."  
  
"Yes, your room and Mr. Snape's are on either side of Duo's room," Quatre said, and then smiled. "He, of course, picked the room with the highest concentration of black."  
  
The others, who really didn't see why Quatre was smiling, waited for him to continue.  
  
"Now, if any of you are up for it, I can give you a tour if the house." Hermione and Seamus, who had just walked into the doorway, smiled.  
  
"Sure, I'm up for it. Thanks for the room by the way, it's beautiful," Hermione said. Seamus nodded, agreeing with Hermione.  
  
"Yeah, I'll tag along too."  
  
Quatre turned towards the other two, who both nodded.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
  
". . . And this is the observation room for the gym," Quatre was saying some time later.  
  
They'd toured the grounds first, going through rose gardens, a large hedge maze that reminded the four wizards eerily of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and around a medium sized lake, noting a small row boat tied to a wooden pier. Even though they were in Wales, the weather was nice enough so that they didn't have to bundle up, though they were glad to be back inside as the sun had started to set.  
  
Next, they'd gone through the first floor, where the kitchen, the library, the parlor, the shooting gallery (were they'd said hello to Trowa), and the dining room were all located. They'd next gone up to the second floor, which was half filled with bedrooms and included a large armory, a music room, and the gym.  
  
The gym had a high ceiling and the observation room had a spiraling staircase that led to a loft near the ceiling of the gym. The loft had ten chairs in a row, all facing towards a large window. The group went up the staircase, looking down through the window and into the gym.  
  
Quatre turned to them, smiling. "Duo and Heero are sparing right now, so we'll wait and go down to talk to them when they're finished."  
  
The match in the gym was far enough below so that they could see everything in the room, yet close enough so that they could see the facial expressions of the two fighters in the middle of the room. Both were spinning, kicking, and punching in a flurry of body parts. Hermione cringed as Heero swung his leg out and hit Harry on his side. He stepped back a few paces but didn't let his guard down. Heero went into a floor sweep, one in which Duo easily jumped over.  
  
Snape similarly cringed, but at the same time, he was amazed. They were really good! Severus watched them for a while as they tried to pummel each other into the blue cushioned floor.  
  
Quatre's voice cut through the silence. "They're pretty evenly matched, though their style of fighting is quite different." Now that Snape concentrated more on their style, he too noticed the difference. Heero was efficient; everything he did was done perfectly, as if he had done this a dozen times before, which he probably had. Harry- or Duo- Snape was never going to be able to decide what exactly to call him- was not perfect, but was nonetheless a force to be reckoned with. His moves were sure and fluid, almost playful. His technique was a mixture of karate and street fighting. Both Heero and Harry's moves perfectly complimented each other, almost like some sort of deadly dance.  
  
They'd been fighting for a while obviously, because both were covered in a light sheen of sweat. They had discarded their shirts, which lay in a crumpled heap on opposite sides of the ring that was drawn around them.  
  
"They're just putting on a show for their audience. Maxwell's a showoff sometimes."  
  
The group turned to see Wufei, wearing a pair of loose blue pants and a white tank top, walking up the spiral staircase, a large curved sword in hand. He too was sweating lightly.  
  
"It looks more like they're trying to kill each other!" Draco said rather shrilly.  
  
Wufei waved a hand dismissively. "Believe me, if they'd wanted to kill each other, one of them would already be dead. And besides, they're too familiar with each other's moves to go through the whole hassle of physical fight. To kill each other, they'd have to be quick."  
  
::Blink::  
  
Draco, who hadn't been expecting the explanation, stayed quiet, looking down on Heero and his one-time nemesis.  
  
Wufei looked over at Quatre, adding, "Maxwell and Yuy finished hacking into that disk, I think. When they're finished playing they can tell us what they found." Just then, down below, Heero feinted right before punching Duo squarely in the chest. As Duo fell back and out of the ring, he spun, knocking Heero's legs out from under him. Heero, who would rather not land on top of Duo, spun himself as he fell, landing next to Duo, also out of the ring.  
  
Duo was openly grinning as he stood up, brushed himself out, and reached down to where Heero lay. He pulled him up, and they both turned towards the large window. Duo winked, waved, and followed Heero to the door, which led to the observation deck.  
  
After a moment, they were up the stairs, standing in front of the group. Duo moved over to stand next to Hermione as Heero addressed the group.  
  
"Quatre, Wufei, we should probably go down to the shooting gallery. Trowa should hear this," Heero glanced over at Duo, "bring your friends to their rooms, we'll need to discuss this in private." Duo nodded, motioning for the four wizards to follow. The pilots and the wizards came down the staircase and to the door leading to the hallway before splitting into to groups, the four pilots to the staircase leading to the first floor, the wizards to the bedrooms down the hall.  
  
Hermione, who was standing next to Duo, leaned over and whispered, "I'd like to talk with you for a minute, if that's okay?" She sounded nervous. Duo nodded. The others, who had most likely heard the question, decided by some unspoken agreement to let the two be, going to their own rooms. Duo led Hermione over to his room, between Snape's room and Draco's.  
  
Hermione looked around at the décor. Quatre had been right; everything *was* in black. The floor was an ebony colored wood, matching the bed, the curtains, the rugs, and the random tables and couches dispersed thru out the room. In Hermione's opinion, the room never would have gone with Harry's personality, but with Duo's . . . she just didn't know. The room, although beautiful in a dark sort of way, had no personal touches.  
  
"Me and the others are . . . sort of like nomads. We don't stay in one area for too long," Duo said from behind her. Hermione looked at him in surprise as she sat on a small black armchair facing the bed. It was like he'd read her mind. Duo himself flopped onto the bed, turning to face Hermione.  
  
"I'm more perceptive than I used to be," he said as he leaned forward, taking Hermione's hands into his own. "You have to understand, I'm not the Harry you were friends with. I know -- God knows I know -- how horrible it is to lose someone. And it must be even harder for you, because your world was just pulled out from under you. I'll try to be as good a friend as I can be, but you have to understand that I'm not Harry, not anymore." Hermione nodded, afraid she'd burst into tears. Duo, for she understood now that the person she was facing would never *really* be Harry again, looked her in the eyes before answering the question she had been afraid to ask.  
  
"Ron survived the attack but . . . he became a Siphon. We both took your death really hard. And we couldn't mourn together because being around him caused me actual physical pain. Although we could not be around each other, we still sent letters, and tried to keep in touch until his death. He became a leader of the rebuilding Siphon community. Got married to a wonderful woman from Durmstrang and had a dozen Weasleys to replace those that had died."  
  
"What happened to the rest of the Weasleys?" Hermione asked hesitantly. Like Harry, the Weasley family had always been more than just her friend's family. They had been her family also, in every sense but genetics.  
  
"Ron's parents had been in Diagon Alley, they passed away in St. Mungo's. Ginny, as you remember, was sent to Beauxbatons when the French students came to Hogwarts," he said. Hermione blinked; she had completely forgotten about them. "Ano . . . sorry, it's been so long." Hermione nodded in understanding. For Harry, it had been hundreds of years. "She became a Siphon also. Fred passed away, but George stayed a wizard, one of the very few at Hogwarts. Charlie survived the bombings, but passed away in the attack on Voldemort. Percy passed away during the bombing in the Ministry building. And Bill stayed a wizard. I think he still has descendants living today, though they don't know that they ever had magic."  
  
Hermione sat silent for a moment, lost in thought. Finally she looked up, smiling sadly at the person Harry had become, "Thanks Duo, I'll . . . remember." Duo squeezed her hands before letting go. "If you'd like, you can still call me Harry." Hermione shook her head sadly, standing up from her chair. She would mourn for all that she had lost later. She understood that Duo had already mourned and moved on from it all. She would rather not burden him with her grief.  
  
"You were right earlier. Harry," here she rubbed at her wet eyes with the back of her hand, "isn't who you are anymore. There are traces of him left, but you aren't *him* anymore." She smiled, sticking out her hand as she added, "I'd like to become friends with Duo, now. Not because you're the last bit of Harry left, but because you're a person I'd genuinely like to be friends with." Duo smiled, glad that she understood and accepted what had happened, though truthfully, he had expected no less from her.  
  
"Pleasure to meet you," Duo mock bowed before taking her hand and shaking it. There was a knocking at Duo's door just then and Duo turned to open it, letting Hermione wipe the last traces of her tears away.  
  
In the door stood Heero, black duffel bag in hand. He glanced at Hermione who was seated in the armchair again, pleating than smoothing the jean skirt she had been provided with, before turning back to Duo.  
  
"Pack up. We've got a mission."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Another Flashback  
  
April 13th 1996 (eight days after the bombings, a day after Harry wakes up)  
  
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The rain was soothing to Harry's aching body. The outdoor hospital that the Siphons had made was a frenzy of activity. Those that were not hurt were trying to find blankets, tarps, anything to block the rain out from their patients.  
  
After Madame Pomfrey (who was now a Siphon) had discovered that being around other Siphons was almost unbearably painful for him, Harry had been moved a little ways from the bustle of activity. He was far enough from the Siphons to think clearly thru the pain, but was close enough that should he need any medical attention, he would receive it. He'd been given a tarp to put over him, but was currently out from under it, eyes closed and mouth open to the fresh water. The dull ache that was throbbing throughout his body sharpened and he opened his eyes. Ron, whose eyes were suspiciously red rimmed (though if any tears were falling Harry would not be able to tell because of the rain), came up to the cot that Harry was sitting on.  
  
"Harry, stay out of the rain, you'll catch cold." Harry did so, pulling it up and over his head. Ron pulled the hood of his poncho closer around his face before putting his hands in his pockets.  
  
"They haven't found Hermione yet," he said softly. Harry nodded, looking down at the torn jeans he had been wearing since the attack.  
  
"Yeah," Harry coughed, clearing his throat. "They're burying Professor Dumbledore's body tonight. I- I talked to him a bit before he died." Ron nodded. "He- I don't know. He seemed peaceful- if tired- when he died, like he knew everything would be okay in the end. I just wish-" He didn't have to continue; Ron knew what he meant. Harry rubbed at his temples, the pain was starting to darken his vision around the edges, but he didn't want to be left alone again. Ron stepped back a few paces, but stayed, most likely also wanting to be in the company of the best friend he knew to be alive.  
  
Ron glanced over at the rubble, the last of Hogwarts. It was swarming with people digging, pulling barely recognizable bodies out of the wreckage. Harry was looking at the growing pile of the dead being covered up by large tarps. If nothing else, the Siphons wanted to at least give the dead proper burials. George, one of the few wizards left, was casting spells over the mound to keep them from decomposing. They still hadn't found his twin.  
  
"An owl came while you were unconscious," Ron's voice broke through Harry's thoughts. He looked back at Ron, the question in his eyes. "Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were also hit by muggle weapons." Harry frowned, punching listlessly at his soggy pillow. He just *couldn't* show more of a reaction than a frown. Most people had been living in a sort of half-state, not knowing how exactly to deal with all of the loss.  
  
Ron rubbed at his eyes. "Ginny's blind. She's a- she's like me also." Ron paused before continuing, "They didn't ask about the French students. Probably knew that they'd died in Diagon Alley."  
  
None of the Beauxbaton students that had been sent from France had been found. They'd been called into Dumbledore's office two days before the attack to take a field trip into Diagon Alley and had most likely died in the attack. Only about a dozen people, all in critical condition, had survived the bombing on Diagon Alley, which had been one of the most heavily bombed areas. Ron never told Harry, who knew that the two Senior Weasleys had been in Diagon Alley during the attack, if his parents had survived. No one needed to tell him, Harry knew that they were gone.  
  
Harry clasped his hands together when he realized that they were shaking. Most likely from a combination of the power he was receiving, the pain, the cold, and his own emotions held in check.  
  
Parvarti, who had held her twin sister as she died, came over to them. The right side of her face and head were covered in burns and her right arm was in a sling. Out of sympathy for Harry's pain, she also stood a few meters away from him. The three of them were the only 6th year Gryffindors known to be alive. Harry glanced first over at Ron's grief stricken features, and then over to Parvarti's mutilated and defeated beauty.  
  
Something inside Harry crumbled. That part of him left from his neglected childhood; his inhabitations at stopping those who oppressed him, hurt him, hated him; he didn't want to lie back and let the enemy win anymore! Voldemort had gone too far. Harry spoke up, his green eyes darkening, "We can't let Voldemort win. He's taken too much."  
  
Two weeks later, on May the First, Voldemort and his Death Eaters paid for what they had done.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A.N. hey! Hehe, if you're wondering, yes, I will show a part of what happened to Voldemort in another flashback thingy. Well, the ending of this was a little dark, but I like it.  
  
Thanks for Reviewing:  
  
J. Lynn (They may go back, they may not . . . hehehe, I'm so evil. I have a plot, this story is going somewhere, it'll just take me a while to really get into it ::smile::), Shinegami (I don't think he's turning evil in my story, so don't worry. I have something planned for him), Demia (I loved your review ::smile:: thanks, I wasn't sure if I went a little overboard or not on changing the wizarding world. hehe, I rather like my original plot, and it'll get weirder, yet. Not all of the pairings will be slash, I think I'm just having two, maybe three. Hm . . . Siphons. They're true identity will be shown later. Right now, they're just a group of people, not really understood. Their actually more isolationist so they wont be joining the war, though they aren't really friendly either. Hehe, yes, Draco will have a bit of trouble fitting in. ::laughs aloud:: yes, a lot of great pairings), Usa Yui Usa Kou (hehe, I'm glad it wasn't confusing for you), Otaku Freak, Richan (hehe, yeah, all of Trelawney's predictions were for nothing. My story is going to be ss/hp, but I'm not sure about any others as of now).  
  
  
  
  
  
Review!!!! 


	8. School, What a Drag

Title: Firefly Tides  
  
Author name: CherryStain  
  
Author email: CherryStain@hotmail.com  
  
Category: Drama/Angst  
  
Rating for this chapter: PG  
  
Spoilers: SS/PS, CoS, PoA, GoF, FB, QTTA, Gundam Wing.  
  
Summary: Harry, forever The-Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Die meets familiar faces after thinking them dead for over Five-Hundred Years. Crossover with Gundam Wing, will have slash, though won't be centered on it.  
  
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Gundam Wing manga series; story by Hajime Yadate & Yoshiyuki Tomino, art by Koichi Tokita.  
  
Authors Notes: Well, I am officially a Senior! It's actually not all that exciting dear readers, just a lot more confusing. I don't know what I want to do with my life! Gah, anyways, chapters are going to come out once a week, maybe once every two weeks if the workload gets heavy, so bare with me! And review a lot, it helps boost my morale ::CrossesFingers::  
  
One thing you should all know, dear readers, is that I severely screwed over the whole Gundam Timeline. Hehe, I know, it's confusing as hell. Hm . . . a few things you should know:  
  
--The Mobile Dolls come in a lot sooner than they should.  
  
--Duo and Heero have already had some sort of mission (I could make up a mission right now if you'd like) at the Peacecraft Academy so Relena knows who they are and feels comfortable enough to joke around, at least with Duo around.  
  
--Duo and Heero met in the Manga way- guns and all :-) just because I love that whole scene.  
  
--My missions are not going to be the same- although I am not nearly clever enough to think up completely new missions- and as such, the missions in this story will be *somewhat* like some in the Manga.  
  
  
  
  
  
More Author's Notes: This is a character development and transition chapter, more than anything else, so be patient. Action and darker themes will be predominant in the next chapter. Have fun! ::Grin::  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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Chapter Seven- School, What a Drag  
  
[A.N. my thoughts exactly! ::Grumble::Grumble:: stupid school. Oh yeah, and before I forget, this chapter is dedicated to DEMIA who left a nice loooong review. Check the bottom, Demia, for comments ::Toothy Grin::)  
  
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"There are a lot of girls here, Harry,"[1] Seamus remarked, staring out the window of the car at the people milling around. Duo, who was halfway out of the car, duffle bag in hand, glanced over at Seamus.  
  
"It's a women's school, Seamus," he said patiently, having a good idea where this would be heading. A slow grin spread across Seamus's face. The others rolled their eyes at him. They were standing in front of a large school, the words 'Peacecraft Academy' emblazed across the side.  
  
"It's good to see you again Heero," said a feminine voice to their left, and they all turned towards the voice of the girl that was coming down a large white staircase, which lay in front of the school. The four wizards and Wufei, who had never seen the strange pink and brown frilly school uniform, wrinkled their noses in the universal gesture of disgust. Duo sighed but grinned up at her, Heero's face remained impassive.  
  
Heero nodded in greeting. "Relena."  
  
Duo threw an arm around her shoulders, grinning. "How's everything with you, Miss Pacifist?" Relena rolled her eyes and, picking up Duo's arm and moving it off of her shoulder, backed up a step to face him.  
  
"I was good until I found out you were coming here," She mock sighed, pulling at the front of Duo's sweepers cap so that it covered his eyes. An indignant grunt followed.  
  
"Hey! I thought you'd be glad to see us! We brought Heero!"  
  
"At least this meeting is better than the last one. Anything beats a gun pointed to the head," Everyone blinked. ~'Yet another thing to ask about later'~, the four time-travelers thought in unison.  
  
"Well, anyways, these are my friends. Friends, this is Relena Peacecraft. She's the owner of this school and was kind enough to let us stay here for a few days."  
  
"Isn't she a little young?" Draco scoffed, his eyes showing how little he thought of her.  
  
"This coming from the famed Gundam Pilots' friends?" drawled another voice. The group turned as one to look at a blonde teen that had just gotten out of a car previously unnoticed. Heero and Duo looked at her coolly, though both moved as if to stand between the blonde and the rest of the group. Wufei, who had heard enough about her to know who she was, tensed; looking around to make sure that no one had heard her comment.  
  
"What gives you the right to butt into others conversations?" Draco asked, folding his arms across his chest. Dorothy smiled coldly in return. Duo put a restraining arm on Draco, who shrugged it off. Duo looked at Draco, a warning in his eyes, as if to say 'don't mess with her without caution.'  
  
"Her name is Dorothy Catolina, and she's a student here," the braided boy said, his voice bland and unemotional. Dorothy turned her icy eyes from Draco to settle on Duo.  
  
"I find it somewhat disappointing that someone with your . . . profession does not understand the thrill of a good fight. The blood too much for you?" Dorothy looked him up and down with clear disgust. Duo blanched, then went red, though he held back a retort. The three sixth year Hogwarts students were looking at him questioningly.  
  
Wufei started to move forward, opening his mouth in preparation for a retort, but Relena beat him too it.  
  
"Dorothy," she said, her voice firm, "this school is about peace and *everyone* must at least make en effort to keep it as such." Dorothy, if she heard Relena, did not acknowledge her at first. She kept her eyes trained on Duo who was visibly trying to restrain himself, the muscles in his jaw flexing and unflexing. Finally, he turned towards Heero, (avoiding everyone else's eyes) nodded at him in a silent agreement for him to handle any problems should they arise, and then walked up the staircase and through the main door. Dorothy turned towards Relena with a smile that was both open and guarded.  
  
"I am sorry to cause any trouble, Miss Peacecraft, I only speak the truth. I cannot change your views as surely as you cannot change mine." Relena gave a sharp nod.  
  
"Another fact you should learn about my school," Relena directed her gaze to the group that she had not yet been properly introduced to, "is that tolerance is key. However much you may disagree with one's opinion, learning to cooperate with one another is better than fighting." Here, she clapped her hand together, the tension leaving her face. "Now, we haven't been properly introduced; and you are . . .?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
After introductions, they had all been sent to their dorm rooms. In truth, they weren't much to look at. Two beds, white sheets, white curtains, and a plain wooden desk. Draco would have raised all kinds of hell about this, if he hadn't been distracted. As little as he wanted to admit it, his mind was on Potter and what had happened on the front steps. Potter had been absent throughout the afternoon, and it was now nearing dinnertime. Because of the school's rules, anyone within the school, with the exception of adults, had to wear uniforms, even if they weren't taking any classes. He was hoping that Potter would show up with his uniform and maybe even directions to the Kitchens, because he was hungry. His curiosity was peaked and he wanted to ask Potter more about his "profession.'  
  
They'd been told back at the blonde boy's house about this supposed mission, although the wizards were still a little confused about all of it. On the car ride over, before Potter had fallen asleep, all he'd said was that the three boys were supposed to blow up some sort of base of the enemies. His erstwhile adversary had said that they would most likely see it on the news at the next safe house, so he had not told them anything else, wanting to keep the rest of what they were to be doing quiet. Snape had later told him that it was most likely because the other two, Heero and the Chinese boy, didn't want them leaking any information.  
  
Draco looked over at Snape, who was systematically emptying his borrowed muggle clothes out of his duffle bag and into a desk drawer.  
  
"Why do you think Potter got all huffy about what that strange girl said? And what was all that about blood? I doubt that he could ever actually kill anyone," he commented, rolling his eyes at the idea. Snape put away the last of his pants before turning to Draco thoughtfully, leaning his back against the desk and folding his arms.  
  
"Remember, Draco. It has been five-hundred years for him. He is a different person, and has undoubtedly done things he is not proud of. Also remember that he is at war, and must do things he would not wish to do for the greater good. I am positive that he does not wish for us to find out his darker side." Draco scoffed, turning back to his duffle bag.  
  
"Potter, no matter how far into the future, could never *be* Dark, Professor."  
  
"Draco, there is a difference between Dark and Evil. Potter is too inherently *good* to be evil, but anyone with eyes can tell that he is not a care-free fifteen year old anymore." Draco rolled his eyes, and started to turn away from Snape again. Snape reached an arm out and gripped Draco's upper arm, forcing him to face Snape again.  
  
"Your father kept you away from all that was happening after He-Who-Must- Not-Be-Named rose. You do not know what true Evil can be, nor do you have any idea what Potter has been through. I am surprised that he hasn't lost his mind, yet."  
  
"What, now you're sticking up for him?" Draco's eyes widened. He wasn't stupid; he knew that he had gone too far with the last comment.  
  
Snape sent him that look that he usually reserved for Gryffindors. Gryffindors like Weasley who had said something so stupid, Snape was both exasperated and angered with the speaker. "No, you stupid boy! But I do understand what it is like to be misunderstood!"  
  
Draco sighed, and nodded his head. "I'll take what you said into consideration, Professor." Snape let out a breath, his eyes not nearly as harsh, more inquiring, if anything.  
  
"That is all that I ask of you, Draco."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
::Knock::Knock::  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
Seamus looked nervously to the left, then to the right. He was in the girls' dormitory hallway and he was half terrified that some girl would come out of the bathroom at the other end of the hall in a towel. He turned back to the door, hearing a distinctive click.  
  
Pushing the door open, he looked in to see Hermione's back towards him, walking over to the bed. She turned and sat down, scooting herself against the wall. In the afternoon light coming in through the window, Seamus could see silver tracks, not yet dried, streaking down her cheeks. She brushed at the tears, smudging them from view.  
  
Seamus sat nervously on the chair next to the bed. He had never really been close to Hermione, and had no idea how exactly to talk to her. He knew that Hermione and Harry had talked earlier, but Seamus just didn't want to ask Harry about everything. He was just so . . . different. At least Hermione's presence was familiar. Harry felt alien, not at all the Harry he had shared a dorm with for six years.  
  
Seamus looked up at the crack in the ceiling, watching the dust flitter in the beams of light. The room smelled of disuse and soap from being recently cleaned. Hermione had been given an unused dorm room to herself for privacy.  
  
"Ron became one of those Siphons, you know?" Seamus looked over at Hermione, more tracks replacing the smudged ones.  
  
"Really? Do you know what happened to everyone over the years?"  
  
"No. Harry- sorry, Duo told me about the Weasleys, and he told me that soon after the attack, Voldemort was killed, but nothing else."  
  
"I miss everyone. I just wish that . . ."  
  
"That we could go back? I know," Hermione smiled; though it looked forced, "Well, Duo said he'd try; maybe we can go back." Her smile disappeared. "It's just so . . . wrong somehow. I mean, Dumbledore, half the Weasleys, almost everyone important to us," She choked back a sob, "they're all gone. And even if we do make it back, we won't be able to stop what happened. It's just . . . too far into the future to change it all."  
  
Seamus stood from his chair and walked over to Hermione. He awkwardly pulled her into a hug, one armed like he used to hug his little sister. "Harry said he'd get us back. Even if we can't change what happens, at least we'll be able to help the people who survive the attack."  
  
They needed to have hope or else they truly would be lost.  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Dinner was a boisterous affair. Because of school rules, they were all dressed in borrowed school uniforms, save Snape who was too old to be a student. Students had arrived in trickles into the cafeteria and now the room was filled with laughing and shouting girls, half of whom kept turning towards the few boys in the room as if not really believing that they were there. They had heard more than one comment drift to their table about them, most of which would have made lesser people blush.  
  
Of the group, the three pilots had arrived first, staking out a table in the corner of the room. Hermione and Seamus arrived next. It was obvious that they had both splashed their faces with water, as both of their hairlines were soaked, making Seamus's short cropped hair stand on end. After them, Draco and Snape had drifted in. They were followed closely by Relena, who smiled at the multiple greetings.  
  
She sat down between Heero and Hermione, as it was the only seat left. Wufei was in the middle of a diatribe about something that had happened at one of their safe houses.  
  
". . . And you wouldn't believe the mess Maxwell made! So what if there wasn't an available shooting gallery within miles? He didn't have to use the *wall* as target practice!" Duo burst into very uncharacteristic giggles.  
  
"You see, it was a very old wooden cabin, no more than a wooden box in the middle of the Himalayas. I'd only had one gun with me, and something had gotten jammed in it. After fiddling with the damn thing for hours, I finally cleared it out and wanted to see of it was still working. Justice- boy here had gone out to get some snow to boil for water, and I almost hit him when he walked through the door! I think I had a black eye for a week after that."  
  
Hermione looked horrified, Relena rolled her eyes, and the three other wizards just looked surprised.  
  
"You're kidding, right? He didn't actually punch you, did he?" Draco leaned forward towards Duo who was across the table from him, as if expecting to find remnants of the black eye.  
  
Relena muffled her laughter with her hand. They turned to her. When she wasn't forthcoming with why she was laughing, Snape sighed.  
  
"Well what is it? Why are you giggling like an imbecile?"  
  
Of course, the comment did not anger her and she let it pass." You wouldn't believe how they were when they first met."  
  
Duo groaned, protesting, "They don't need to hear that story, Relena." Relena cracked a smile.  
  
"You see, the first meeting between Heero and Duo was very . . . well, violent. They didn't know that they were *both* on the same mission. Actually, they didn't even know that the other was a Gundam pilot." The wizards all sort of mulled over the title.  
  
Duo snapped his fingers, interrupting Relena. "I completely forgot! I haven't even shown all of you Deathscythe!" Blank looks. "She's what I pilot, a Gundam, it's a-you know, in space, and- oh, I'll just show you when she comes tomorrow."  
  
Relena continued, " Anyways, I wasn't supposed to know who Heero was, and him being well-"  
  
"Mr. Stick-up-his-ass?" Duo winced and scowled in Heero's direction, bending down to rub at the shin that Heero had just kicked.  
  
"Um, that wasn't the term I was looking for Duo, but- anyways, I'd followed him one night, and he obviously knew I was there. He was fully intending to kill me when this scruffy, tiny, long haired kid appears out of nowhere!"  
  
"Hey! So, I'm a bit small for my age . . ." Snape mumbled what suspiciously sounded like, 'a bit?' but Duo chose to ignore it.  
  
"Yes, well, he appears out of nowhere to save me from Heero. Imagine my surprise when Duo shoots him in the arm, making Heero drop his gun." Duo looked sheepish, the others spluttered in his direction.  
  
"You SHOT him! With a gun?" Draco was incredulous.  
  
"No Malfoy, I shot him with a bow and arrow," Duo replied, completely deadpan. Draco huffed, but stayed silent. He really didn't feel up to getting into a fight with Potter- or Duo- especially in front of Snape, who he- shame as he was to admit it- really wanted to please. Professor Snape, even outside of Hogwarts, was his favorite teacher- and with him defending Potter as of late, he didn't want to anger his Professor any more than he had been back in the dorm.  
  
"And now you're friends?" he asked instead. Heero and Duo looked at each other.  
  
"Friends with the braided baka?" Wufei ducked under the napkin flung at him by Duo.  
  
"They're more the 'comrade's in war' type of friends, but they work well together," Relena explained as she took a roll from the middle of the table, buttering it with a knife.  
  
"Hey! We're the best of friends, aren't we guys?" Duo punched Heero's arm, then Wufei's. They both turned towards him, raising the same eyebrow.  
  
"That's kind of freaky guys." Duo wrinkled his nose at both of them just as an older woman came over to their table.  
  
"Miss Relena? A Mr. Winner is on the Vid-phone in the room adjacent to the cafeteria calling for your guests."  
  
"Thank you, Professor Stevens (A.N. I don't think they ever name a teacher at the school)," Heero, Wufei, and Duo stood up. Duo turned towards the others, saying, "when you're finished, you guys can go if you'd like, we'll find you later." The others nodded. They all knew next to nothing about the this future and Seamus, surprisingly, had suggested to Hermione that the four time travelers go to the library of the school to find out a little about the world that they had been dumped into.  
  
"We'll be in the library if you need to find us Duo."  
  
Duo smiled reassuringly before turning and leaving the cafeteria with the pilots, the teacher leading them out of the room.  
  
  
  
  
  
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Professor Stevens ushered them into the room, then left, going to the kitchens to get herself dinner.  
  
"Ohayo, 04."  
  
"Hi, 01. I'll have to keep this short. You have the explosives, am I correct?"  
  
"Hai Q, I've got it stashed up in our room, enough for the whole floating Oz base. We both have the layout of the base memorized."  
  
"Good, I've already sent a few of the Maganacs with Deathscythe, Wing, and Shenlong. They should arrive tomorrow, midday, I think."  
  
"Could you also send a Space shuttle? I'd like for my friends to be at the next safe house by the time we get there."  
  
Quatre nodded on the screen, smiling at Duo. "Hai, it should be there in a few short hours. Just ask Relena for docking privileges and it's all set. Remember; alert Trowa or me if there are any problems." The three nodded as Quatre's face disappeared from the screen.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
A.N. Sorry, no flash back this time :-( but the next one will be of the fight against Voldemort, so I think you'll be happy.  
  
Editor's Note: Don't complain, minna. It'll be worth the wait.  
  
Author's Notes: like I said, chapters are coming out a bit slower than before, but they should be out once a week. I hope. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter::smile::  
  
  
  
[1] I got this line from another fanfic, can't remember which one right now though.  
  
  
  
Thanks to all of those who reviewed!  
  
Demia (I loved your review, and I'm glad you see my story in that way- though this chapter is lighter than most- the story as a whole is pretty dark. I'm glad you caught the whole Duo offsetting the darkness thingy. I wanted Duo/Harry to be strong in his own way. He hasn't been beaten, broken, and completely destroyed by what his life has become. He grins and bares it. I actually added that whole Snape/ Draco scene because of your review. I wanted to strengthen Draco's character a little. He's actually going to go through a lot of change in my story, but it'll be gradual, and the finished product wont be for a while. Hehe, Draco will become more of a fighter. I think you'll like what I have planned for him. Yeah, Duo is still stubbornly refusing to tell the younger wizards about all of the bloodshed. I'm not sure what I have planned with all of that. Sorry, no space in this chapter, next chapter will show them in space. The wizards still know very little about the world they've been dropped into, so they'll find out more next chapter in the library.), Shinegami (I'm not sure about pairings. I don't want to be too cliché and pair off every single one of them with a pilot. Heero is most likely staying single throughout this story, sadly. Theirs a bit of Seamus and Herm, but they might just stay friends. I dunno yet. Q and Trowa are going to end up together later, though it wont be featured much in the story, I don't think. ::Grins Sheepishly:: about the Manga . . . yeah, my story follows very little of it. Read the top A.N. to learn more about that), The Kuro no Tenshi (Yay! I'm on someone's fave list! I feel so loved ::Grin:: story type? I dunno what that is but, erm, your welcome? Yup, an explanation!), Otaku Freak, Usa Yui and Usa Kou (Hm . . . I'll explain the flashback thingies in my next one in more detail, but I'll tell you right now. They aren't exactly flashbacks that people in the story are having. It's more just to give you guys, the readers, a glimpse of what happened in the past. It's better than second hand information. The flashback thingies are important! They have a purpose, and when I get further into the story- a lot further- you'll probably be slapping your head thinking, so *that's* why that was there! Actually, I don't like to plan everything about my next chapter- which isn't written yet- because I like to have a little of a surprise myself. It all just sort of writes itself! I have general ideas and plans for the story, but nothing is set in stone.), Dark Hikari Kamiya, Jen (you'll find out next chapter), Shinegami (::Smile's in return to your Triple Death Glare:: - review as much as possible! Even if it is to threaten me!)  
  
  
  
  
  
Review! 


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